(a)

1. (1) Except as provided in subsection (f) and subdivision (g)(2) of this section, enhanced student achievement funding under Arkansas Code § 6-20-2305(b)(4) shall be based on the:

   1. (A) Number of national school lunch students for the immediately preceding school year determined under 6 CAR § 272-102(21); divided by
   2. (B) District’s total enrolled students for the immediately preceding school year.

2. (2) If the school district is a Provision 2 district, this funding is based on:

   1. (A) The school district’s percentage of national school lunch students submitted in the base year; multiplied by
   2. (B) The number of enrolled students for the immediately preceding school year.

3. (3) If the school district is a Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) district, this funding is based on:

   1. (A) The school district’s percentage of national school lunch students submitted in the year prior to implementing CEP; multiplied by
   2. (B) The number of enrolled students for the immediately preceding school year.

4. (4) If a school district, open-enrollment public charter school, or school within a district or charter is changing from Provision 2 to CEP, the enhanced student achievement funding percentage used during the final year of Provision 2 will be the enhanced student achievement funding percentage for the:

   1. (A) Four-year CEP cycle; and
   2. (B) Year following the four-year CEP cycle.

5. (5) For determination of the per-student amount of enhanced student achievement funding, the percentage shall be:

   1. (A) Calculated to one-tenth of one percent (0.1%); and
   2. (B) Rounded:

(i) Up to the nearest whole number from five-tenths of one percent (0.5%) or above; or

1. (ii) Down to the nearest whole number from less than five-tenths of one percent (0.5%).

(b) For school districts in which ninety percent (90%) or greater of the previous school year’s enrolled students are national school lunch students, per-student enhanced student achievement funding shall be the amount authorized by Arkansas Code § 6-20-2305(b)(4)(A)(i).

1. (c) For school districts in which less than ninety percent (90%) but at least seventy percent (70%) of the previous school year’s enrolled students are national school lunch students, per-student enhanced student achievement funding shall be the amount authorized by Arkansas Code § 6-20-2305(b)(4)(A)(ii).

   1. (d) For school districts in which less than seventy percent (70%) of the previous school year’s enrolled students are national school lunch students, per-student enhanced student achievement funding shall be the amount authorized by Arkansas Code § 6-20-2305(b)(4)(A)(iii).

(g) Calculating percentage of national school lunch students for districts wherein at least one (1) school, but not the entire district, uses Provision 2 and/or at least one (1) school, but not the entire district, uses CEP.

1. (1) For some districts, calculating the district’s percentage of national school lunch students for any one (1) fiscal year will require combining data from schools in the district, each of which may accept surveys or may use a different method to calculate that school’s percentage as a result of that school’s participation in Provision 2 or the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) of the National School Lunch Program.

2. (2)

   1. (A) If implementing CEP in a year that enhanced student achievement funding is based on current-year Cycle 2 data, open-enrollment public charter schools will be required to accept and report Alternative Income Forms by October 1 from all students in the school to enable calculation of enhanced student achievement funding.
   2. (B) The number of students eligible for enhanced student achievement funding as determined by the Alternative Income Forms is used to determine the CEP base-year percentage.
   3. (C) This percentage is used every year of the four-year CEP cycle and, if the charter is then funded using previous-year data, the year following the four-year CEP cycle.

3. (3)

   1. (A) For a school district or open-enrollment public charter school that opens a new school that participates in CEP in its first year of operation, district-level enhanced student achievement funding is calculated using previous-year data.
   2. (B) For the second year in operation, the school would need to accept and report Alternative Income Forms by October 1 from all students.

   3. (C) This would establish the CEP base-year percentage for the school that would be in effect for the:

      1. (i) Remainder of the four-year CEP cycle; and
      2. (ii) Year following the four-year CEP cycle.

4. (4)

   1. (A) For districts and schools wishing to renew the CEP cycle, during the fourth year of the four-year CEP cycle, if there is a difference of five (5) percentage points or greater between the percentage of identified students in the April calculations from the Child Nutrition Unit, multiplied by the CEP multiplier, and the current enhanced student achievement funding percentage, then a new enhanced student achievement funding percentage would need to be calculated.
   2. (B) The new percentage would be calculated in the following year (Year Five (5)) by accepting and reporting Alternative Income Forms by October 1.
   3. (C) The number of eligible students is divided by the October 1 enrollment.

   4. (D) This new percentage would be applicable during:

      1. (i) Year Six (6); and
      2. (ii) The duration of the four-year CEP cycle (Year Six (6), Year Seven (7), and Year Eight (8), and, if renewed, Year Nine (9)).

   5. (E) If there is a difference of less than five (5) percentage points between the percentage of Identified Students in the April calculations from the Child Nutrition Unit, multiplied by the CEP multiplier, and the current enhanced student achievement funding percentage, then the enhanced student achievement funding percentage used during the fourth year of the CEP cycle would be used for:

      1. (i) The following four-year CEP cycle; and
      2. (ii) If renewed, the year immediately following that cycle.
5. (5) If a school district, open-enrollment public charter school, or school or schools transition from CEP, the enhanced student achievement funding percentage used during the last full year the school district, open-enrollment public charter school, or school or schools participated in CEP will be used for the year following the year of discontinuance of CEP.

6. (6)

   1. (A) For purposes of enhanced student achievement funding, an Alternative Income Form, developed by the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education and available on the division’s website, will be used any time there is not a meal status established or there is a change in meal status for an individual student.
   2. (B) For Provision 2 and CEP school districts and schools, an Alternative Income Form will be used in years after the last meal applications were taken by the school district, or for open-enrollment public charter schools, if a school district requests a review of the overall income status of the school district’s students.
   3. (C) Alternative Income Forms shall go through a verification process at the school district that includes, at a minimum, a review of a standard sample size of three percent (3%) of the Alternative Income Forms approved by the open-enrollment public charter school or school district for the school year as of October 1 of the school year.

   4. (D) The verification process shall be subject to review by:

      1. (i) The Child Nutrition Unit; and
      2. (ii) Arkansas Legislative Audit.

   5. (E) Alternative Income Forms are considered student education records for purposes of:

      1. (i) The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, 20 U.S.C. § 1232g; and
      2. (ii) All applicable confidentiality provisions.
   6. (F) Alternative Income Forms may be used to determine eligibility for other qualifying programs that require a specific percentage of NSLA eligibility provided that the income verification criteria are met.