Section 546.120  Determination of Eligible Communities

To be eligible to apply for a grant, a Community Technology Center, public hospital, library, or park district must serve a community in which not less than 40% of the students are eligible for a free or reduced price lunch under the national school lunch program or in which not less than 30% of the students are eligible for a free lunch under the national school lunch program.

a)         The Department shall annually obtain a list of schools and districts meeting these criteria from the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE).  The Department shall supplement this administrative data from ISBE with public use quality poverty data from the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.  Poverty data and the administrative data from the ISBE will be used to determine eligible communities.

b)         If funding is insufficient to approve all grant applications for a particular fiscal year, the Department may impose a higher minimum percentage threshold for that fiscal year [30 ILCS 780/5-30(b)]. The Department shall make such a determination after applications are received and the need is determined, as evidenced by the total amount of funding requested.

(Source:  Amended at 26 Ill. Reg. 3026, effective February 15, 2002)