January 30, 2003

Dr. Paul F. Ezen
Deputy Commissioner
New Hampshire Department of Education
101 Pleasant Street
State Office Park South
Concord, NH 03301

Dear Dr. Ezen:

This is in response to your inquiry as to whether New Hampshire may allocate Title I funds reserved under section 1003 of Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act for school improvement to approximately 19 schools not formally identified for school improvement, but which failed to meet adequate yearly progress targets during the 2001-2002 school year for the second consecutive year. New Hampshire has taken advantage of the one-time flexibility offered through §200.32(e) of the Title I regulations to not identify such schools for improvement in the 2002-2003 school year. However, it would like to allocate a portion of the funds it has reserved under section 1003 to these schools.

The Secretary has determined that, under the transition authority in section 4(c) of the No Child Left Behind Act, New Hampshire may allocate section 1003 funds in the 2002-03 school year to schools that otherwise would have been designated for improvement if the State had not exercised its authority under section 200.32(e)(1) of the Title I regulations to not identify them for school improvement. Please note that this permission is for one school year only and will not be granted for any subsequent year. It is based on our understanding that these schools would have been identified for improvement if New Hampshire had not exercised the flexibility afforded by the regulations and that New Hampshire will first address the needs of Title 1 schools actually in improvement before using section 1003 funds in Title I schools that otherwise would have been designated for improvement if the State had not exercised its authority under 200.32(e)(1).

I hope this information is useful to you.

Sincerely,
Jacquelyn C. Jackson, Ed.D.
Acting Director
Student Achievement and School Accountability Programs
Office of Elementary and Secondary Education

Policy Letters to States