Title Grants in K-12 Schools | Distribution and Timing

What are title funds?

Title funds are federal monies that are meant to supplement, not replace, existing state funding for education. There are five main types of title funds that each support specific types of programs: Title I, Title II, Title III, Title IV, and IDEA.

This blog post is a part of a series about federal funding. If you didn’t see it, we posted a breakdown of each of the most common title funds and ideas for using them! For now though, let’s dive into the distribution and timing of title funds.

How are title funds distributed? 

Title funds generally flow from the federal government to a State Educational Agency (SEA), to a Local Educational Agency (LEA), to the individual schools.

Title I, Title II, Title III, Title IV, and IDEA funds are distributed to schools based on formulas that draw from Census data. Census data is refreshed every 10 years; this is important to keep in mind as the demographics of your community change over time.

What’s the timeline?

As I’m sure you’re aware, school fiscal years run from July-July. Title funding must be used within that fiscal year, with the exception of Title I funds. The LEA may carry over no more than 15% of its Title I allocation from one year to the next. In October, LEAs update their budget to account for title funds that are carrying over.

Each state may have their grant timeline written a little differently, so for specifics, we suggest looking for a calendar through your DOE. Here are some examples we found!

1. Indiana
2. Ohio

Using Title Funds to Purchase Codelicious

Codelicious curriculum qualifies for multiple title funds! Keep reading to see which grants we suggest:

1. Title I: If you’re a Title I school (greater than 40% of low-income students), we suggest you include computer science curriculum in your Title I budget. Later, you can amend the grant to add Codelicious as the provider.
2. Title II: Our curriculum is educator led and thus provides a professional development opportunity for teachers. This can be written into your Title II grant.
3. Title IV: Title IV is written to specifically include STEM and computer science curricula. So long as your Title IV budget provides for computer science curriculum, Codelicious can be written in as the provider.

Interested in using your title funds on Codelicious curriculum? Learn more about our courses in the coding curriculum pathway here.

Title Funds Resources

1. DOE – Title I, Part A
2. DOE – ESEA Title I LEA Allocations FY 2017
3. DOE – Title I Carryover Requirements 
4. DOE – Title II, Part A
5. DOE – Title III, Part A
6. DOE – Title IV – 21st Century Schools
7. DOE – Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
8. Overview of Federal Education Funding
9. Indiana – Federal Programs Timeline
10. Ohio – Federal Programs Timeline