How is Moderate Poverty Calculated?

Of the three weights for poverty in the BEF formula, the one targeted to moderate poverty represents the most students. Students living in moderate poverty are those students living between 100-184% of the federal poverty line. This means that, for a family of four, they live in a household that makes $24,600 to $44,280 annually.

Statewide, based on the 2019-20 formula, school districts had 286,030 ADMs living in moderate poverty—or 16.77%.

Click on the image link below to view our Infogram illustrating over time the total statewide ADMs in moderate poverty.

To calculate moderate poverty weighted ADMs in the formula for each school district, the percentage of students in this category (as determined from federal data) is multiplied by the school district’s 3-year average ADMs. The result is then multiplied by a weight of 0.3—recognizing that students living in moderate poverty have additional educational challenges to overcome, and thus, school districts need to expend additional educational resources to help them do so. The product becomes the school district’s “add on” ADMs for moderate poverty.

For example, Everett Area SD in Bedford County had a moderate poverty metric of 36.23% in the 2019-20 BEF formula. To calculate the school district’s moderate poverty weighted ADMs, the formula multiplies the 36.23% by the district’s 3-year average ADMs of 1,323.7 and by the moderate poverty weight of 0.3, resulting in 138.6 moderate poverty weighted ADMs.

Click on the map below to see for each school district the percentage of students in moderate poverty, the number of ADMs in moderate poverty and the add on ADMs as a result of the moderate poverty weight in the 2018-19 BEF formula. Click on the map below to see for each school district the change from the to 2019-20 BEF formulas in the moderate poverty metric and weighted ADMs.