Late Filing Jeopardizes a $500,000 School Grant

A $500,000 federal grant to help schools with a high percentage of low-income students is in jeopardy at San Fernando High School because administrators there failed to turn in an application on time, school district officials said.

The school, which has never before received grants from the 30-year-old anti-poverty program known as Title I, appeared to qualify under a new method for counting the number of poor pupils.

But the required data on San Fernando’s low-income students was not turned in last December, and so the campus was excluded when the district’s eligible schools were determined in March.

San Fernando High Principal Phil Saldivar did not return phone calls from The Times about the snafu.

“There’s an investigation that’s being conducted into precisely what occurred,” said Los Angeles Unified School District spokesman Brad Sales.

Sales said the district was attempting to find a way to provide the money--as long as the school really does qualify.

“There is a will on the part of the superintendent to help the school out,” Sales said. “We don’t want to have a situation where the students are penalized because the processes in place were not followed.”

Margaret Jones, who oversees the distribution of Title I funds for the district, said she had initially turned down the school’s late request for the money, fearing that in funding the grant the district would run afoul of federal regulations.

But, she said, after a request from Supt. Sid Thompson to look at the matter again, the district is doing what it can to help out. If the school’s application passes an audit, it will probably receive the funds.

Title I was set up in 1965 as part of then-President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty. Last year, Los Angeles Unified received $130.8 million for 404 schools. This year, 433 schools qualified for aid, but the amount of the total grant has not yet been determined. The funds are based on the number of students in the district who are on welfare, and are meant to help offset the influence of poverty on education.

The money can be used for a variety of supplemental needs, including teachers, computers and other enrichment tools.

In the past, San Fernando High did not qualify for the funds. But last year, new federal regulations allowed the district to change the way it distributes the grants.

Under the old guidelines, schools had to have 75% of their students in poverty to receive funds. Now, that number has been reduced to 65%.

The method for tallying poor students also has changed.

Instead of relying on a complex formula that mostly emphasizes the number of students whose families receive welfare payments, the district also considers students who are eligible for free or reduced-price lunches.

Jones said she hopes to have the results of the audit this week, and a decision about the funding will be made soon after.