| Common Errors: |
| E-Rate Central has seen the following types of errors in applicant calculations
of discount rates:
|
| 1. |
A school district exhibiting significantly lower percentages of student
"eligibility" in its high schools than in its elementary schools. This is
almost always a case of using participation numbers. For a variety of societal
reasons - none related to actual eligibility - high school students are much
less likely to partake of free or reduced price lunches. |
| 2. |
A private school applying for only the minimum 20% discount because it has no
lunch program or has no access to equivalent data. |
|
| Practical Suggestions: |
| Obtaining lunch program eligibility data is often a lot more difficult than
simply using participation data. Two practical factors are worth considering: |
| 1. |
Particular attention should be paid to any school exhibiting poverty level
indicators close to the transition points on the E-rate discount matrix (i.e.,
at 1%, 20%, 35%, 50%, and 75%). Finding a small incremental percentage of
eligible students may not be that difficult, but could add 10% (or more) to the
discount. |
| 2. |
For public schools, in particular, extra work in validating higher E-rate
discounts may yield data that could improve other aid ratios. In many cases,
data collected to increase the present year's ratio also will be useful in
subsequent years. |
|
|
