Contact at State for all things DC: Mary (Rosie) Krueger
4/30/2021
From GJO:
Is there a column on the Public School Student file that indicates the student is state-placed? I see there are some columns for Foster.
Rosie: There is not a column for the state to report this down to you – I believe the column you are seeing is for you to report it up to the state, if you have the information. This is something that we’re hoping to provide in the future, but is not currently available. I’ve added the helpdesk here to confirm my understanding!
David Kelley: Rosie is correct, that these columns are for future use but are not currently available.
3/25/2021
Gloria If a student qualified for DC because they are homeless, then they find residence, do they still qualify? So once a DC in a school year, always DC that entire year?
Rosie: You’re exactly right – once they are directly certified for the school year, they maintain that status for the rest of the school year, even if they are no longer homeless. That status carries over for the first 30 operating days of the next school year as well, unless they submit a new application before that point in the new year.
March 5 Email:
GJO: Questions for you. Does the monthly DC report always include all students who have qualified for DC for the entire year? I clear that field in my SIS database before I import the new spreadsheet. So I want to make sure that is what I should be doing.
Rosie:
The report in EdFusion is cumulative from July on. However, I’m not sure it’s a good idea to clear that field in your SIS each month – as noted below, there are other students who are directly certified for other reasons and won’t be on the list that you get from edfusion. I’m not entirely sure how your SIS works, but if you are clearing the direct cert status each month before re-entering whatever you get from edfusion, it seems like you would miss those students.
GJO: Also, I notice a big drop in some schools...is that because of the mixup with the 2019 students being included at the beginning of the year and now no longer being included?
Rosie:
It could be – if the drop was between December and January, that is the likely reason. Other than that one instance, you shouldn’t see a drop from month to month. If you do, please let us know so that we can trouble shoot with you!
GJO: And....when you mention that it doesn't include homeless and state placed students, I should be coding those students in addition to those that are on the DC sheet, correct? I understand that there are students who crossover.
Rosie:
Yes, you also need to add these students in addition to what you get from EdFusion. If a student is directly certified because of SNAP/3SquaresVT, that takes precedence over any other type of direct certification. There is a report that the SFA needs to submit each year that includes the total number of students who are directly certified due to SNAP/3Squares, so in the case that a student is both, include the SNAP/3Squares status.
In addition to homeless and state-placed students, the following groups of students are also directly certified, and should be coded as directly certified:
- 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.
- Students who are enrolled in a Head Start class. You can get the list of Head Start students from the Head Start teacher.
- 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.
Please coordinate with the food service program about making these students directly certified – a letter needs to be sent to the household once they are directly certified to advise them of their benefits and the option to decline.
GJO: And when you mention independent schools, does this mean that I am not keeping DC data for those students, but the independent schools are?
Rosie:
You have several independent schools who participate in the Child Nutrition programs under the BSD school food authority – this means that you (as the SFA) are responsible for accessing their direct certification information and tracking their eligibility status. When we refer to independent schools in our communications, we’re talking about independent schools who participate in the child nutrition programs under their own stand-alone SFA.
It might be helpful to note that unlike the census, there’s no problem with both you and another SFA submitting/checking on a student’s status at the same time – so even if your independent schools are also accessing direct cert data for these students on their own, it’s fine if you also include them.
One additional piece that you should be aware of is that this year only (20-21), for the schools participating in the Summer Food Service Program, student eligibility from last year is carrying over for the entire year this year. That’s different than normal. Your SIS may have a place to enter the end date for prior year eligibility for each school. Usually, that date is sometime in early October (30 operating days into the school year). For this year, you should change that date to at least 6/30/21. If your SIS has that functionality, it will automatically change the student status to “paid” after that date, unless new information is entered.
This is important, because it impacts your overall Free and Reduced numbers that you report up to the state in the census – please make sure that you haven’t inadvertently cleared last year’s Free and Reduced status from your SIS for those schools participating in the Summer Food Service Program this year. Doug and Heather can let you know which schools are participating in the SFSP this year, and which schools are not.
The FRL data for the census is related to income level only. The required information is in the Household Income Survey that each student (CEP or not) has to fill out. So this data is not actually related to who receives free lunch. The census calls it NSLEG. Per the SLDS FAQ's:
Aug 25 Email:
James: We will be sending monthly notices to the food service, business managers, and data managers email lists each month this year as soon as that month’s direct certification information is loaded into the EdFusion system.
Please note that the list in EdFusion includes only children who are directly certified because their households receive 3SquaresVT/SNAP or Reach Up/TANF benefits. You will need to contact homeless liaisons, head start teachers, and school registrars to get direct certification information about children who are Homeless, Migrant, Runaway, Head Start, or State-Placed/Foster.