Disadvantaged Student Data in CALPADS
Under the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), disadvantaged students are those students enrolled on fall Census Day, the first Wednesday in October, who are identified as one or more of the following:
- English Learner
- FRPM eligible
- Foster Youth
English Learner (EL): Any student recorded in CALPADS as enrolled on Census Day with an English Language Acquisition Status (ELAS) of “EL” will be counted for LCFF purposes.
If you have previously submitted an ELAS of “to be determined” (TBD) for new students, it will be important that you update those TBD statuses for students once the statuses are known. If you determine a student’s ELAS to be EL after Census Day, but prior to the close of the Fall 1 amendment window, you may update the student’s EL status with a start date equal to the student’s enrollment in your LEA.
FRPM Eligible Student: Any student that meets the federal income eligibility criteria or is deemed to be categorically eligible for Free or Reduced Price Meals (FRPM) under the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) will be counted as FRPM-eligible. Based on these criteria, the following students are considered
FRPM-Eligible: Students meeting NSLP income criteria as documented by an NSLP application form on file; Students identified by the LEA to meet the same household income eligibility criteria required by the NSLP; and Students categorically eligible for FRPM, including:
- Migrant students
- Homeless students
- Foster students
Students directly certified as eligible for free meals based on the state-administered automatic match with California’s CalFresh (formerly Food Stamp) and CalWORKS program data.
Foster Youth: The CDE plans to identify, for each LEA, foster students enrolled in their schools on Census Day based on a match with statewide foster data maintained by the California Department of Social Services (CDSS). LEAs will not have to submit any records to CALPADS identifying these students as foster youth.