district eligibility
The statutes (s. 118.43(2)) provide that "the school board of any school district in which a school in the previous school year had an enrollment that was at least 50% low income is eligible to participate in the program . . . "

Low-income is defined as the measure of low income that is used by the school district under 20 USC 2723 (the section of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 which permits districts to choose among a number of indicators to identify children as low income for the purpose of determining the schools poverty rate under Title I of the Improving America's Schools Act). For districts beginning participation in SAGE in the 1998-99 school year, the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) will determine district eligibility using information provided to the department on form PI 1471-A, Elementary School Meals Eligibility Data, which was due to the department February 28, 1997. The poverty percentage for each school will be determined by dividing the number of elementary children eligible for free or reduced price lunches in Column 3 by the public enrollment reported in Column 2 on the form.

Districts which use data other than eligibility for free and reduced price lunches as their Title I low income measure, districts that did not complete form PI-1471-A in 1996-97, or districts that had only a middle, junior, or high school with a poverty rate of 50% or more in 1996-97 should contact the department to determine eligibility to participate in the SAGE program for the 1998-99 school year.