Direct Cert - Procedure Overview

Direct Cert - Procedure Overview

What is Direct Certification?

Direct Certification (fondly referred to as Direct Cert or DC) is used to identify students who qualify for free or reduced lunches based on other State services they are receiving. 

Who Qualifies?

EdFusion provides a list of students who qualify based on the fact that they receive 3SquaresVT/SNAP or ReachUp/TANF benefits. In addition, these students also qualify:
  1. Students who live in the same household as students who are directly certified from SNAP/3SquaresVT and TANF/ReachUp/RUFA (the 2 categories of students that you will learn about from EdFusion).  A good way to find these students is to sort by address to see which students share the same addresses.
  2. Students who are enrolled in a Head Start class.  You can get the list of Head Start students from the Head Start teacher. 
  3. Students who are enrolled in the Migrant Education Program.  AOE sends a letter listing these students to food service and principals at the start of each year, and sends additional letters as students enroll or move schools during the year.
  4. Homeless students
  5. Runaway students
  6. State-Placed/Foster students
 
Note: once a student qualifies for Direct Cert, he/she/they remain qualified for the entire school year even if their circumstances change. 

The Details About the Data Collection and Coding

The State releases a new Direct Cert list every month.  To make sure we get this benefit for all qualified students, we update our data so we can have the latest information. AOE processes the data every night. So when you upload data, you will need to wait overnight to download the DC file. 

This data is submitted using the DC#03 Nightly submission files. Unlike other SLDS submissions that have a definite due date, the DC03 Nightly can be run at any time.

The DC#03 files are listed below. Though you can submit any files with a DC#03, these four are required. 
 

File
 Data
 Common Errors
 Level of Error Frequency
00_PS_Student Identity
(General Student Data)
student basic info, name, school, DOB, 
  1.  a name is misspelled, a name has accents, we have a different name than the AOE has, wrong gender, missing state id, etc.
 High
04_PS_Enroll
(Enrollment Data)

school, date in/out, race, admission status, entry code, exit code, 504, EST, FRL, homeschool (4 data fields), Dual Enrollment, Title 1 (all N)
 Incorrect dates, student was transferred to another school incorrectly, incorrect entry or exit codes, missing state id, no race, etc
 High
05_PS_GradeProg
(Grade Level Progression)
school, state ID, grade level, grade begin, grade end
 Missing state IDs, incorrect dates, wrong grade
 Low

06_PS_ADM
(ADM Data)

 funding source, district of residence, full or part time, state placed or not, date of first ADM
 The most common errors are missing hours for part time students.
 Low

 
The DC#03 Unofficial Submission is the only submission that does not require you to load all templates with each submission. However, if the files you load contain relationship dependencies you will receive errors.

DC#03_NightlyCollection_Unofficial source data will process overnight. If you have made changes and you want the changes reflected in the direct cert data, then you must wait overnight for the direct cert data to process the new data.

The steps involved for updating the direct cert data in PowerSchool and Cafe Enterprise are:



Other Information

Refer to this  article for AOE instructions about the EdFusion process for downloading the direct cert data. All information below the "In Depth Notes and Explanations" heading is informational only. You need not take any other actions other than what is before this heading.
Refer to this  article for instructions on how to run and prepare the above files.

Contact at State for all things DC: Mary (Rosie) Krueger
Rosie Krueger, State Director of Child Nutrition Programs, Vermont Agency of Education
Phone: 802-828-1589
Fax: 802-828-6433
Mailing Address: 1 National Life Drive, Davis 5, Montpelier, VT 05620-2501
Vermont Child Nutrition Programs Website:  http://education.vermont.gov/student-support/nutrition  


 
 
 





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