Survey Form and Source Check Definitions

1. How does an LEA determine the number of federally connected children?

   An applicant counts the membership of its federally connected children by using one or both of the following methods:

   1. Parent-Pupil Survey

      1. An applicant may conduct a parent-pupil survey to count the membership of its federally connected children, which must be counted as of the survey date. The applicant shall conduct a parent-pupil survey by providing a form to a parent of each pupil enrolled in the LEA to substantiate the pupil’s place of residence and the parent’s place of employment. A parent-pupil survey form must include the following:

         1. Pupil enrollment information (this information may also be obtained from school records), including the following:

            1. Name of pupil

            2. Date of birth of the pupil

            3. Name of public school and grade of the pupil

         2. Pupil residence and parent employment information, including the following:

            1. Address of the pupil’s residence (or other location information for that residence, such as a legal description), including the name of the federal facility if the pupil resides on federal property.

            2. Name (as it appears on the employer’s payroll record) of the parent or other caretaker (mother, father, legal guardian or other person standing in loco parentis) who is employed on federal property and with whom the pupil resides (unless the parent is a member of the uniformed services on active duty).

            3. Name and address of the federal property on which the parent is employed (or other location information, such as a legal description), unless the parent is a member of the uniformed services on active duty.

            4. If the parent is a member of the uniformed services on active duty, the name, rank and branch of service of that parent.

            5. If the parent is a civilian employed on a federal vessel, the name of the vessel, hull number and name of the controlling agency.

            6. The signature of the parent supplying the information and the date of such signature.

            7. The name of the parent’s employer and the employer’s address (or other location information, such as a legal description), unless a parent is a member of the uniformed services on active duty.

      2. An LEA may accept a parent-pupil survey form, or a parent-pupil survey form that is signed by a person other than a parent, only under unusual circumstances. In those instances, the parent-pupil survey form must show why the parent did not sign the survey form, and when, how and from whom the residence and employment information was obtained.

   2. Source Check

      1. An applicant may count the membership of its federally connected children by using a source check to substantiate a pupil’s place of residence or parent’s place of employment on the survey date.

      2. A source check is a form provided to the following people:

         1. To a parent’s employer, who identifies the place of employment of a parent of a pupil claimed.

         2. To a housing official, who indicates the residence of each pupil claimed.

         3. To a tribal official, who states that each pupil claimed resides on Indian lands over which that tribal official has jurisdiction.

2. What is the meaning of the term “parent employed on federal property”?

   1. The term refers to the following:

      1. An employee of the federal government who reports to work on, or whose place of work is located on, federal property.

      2. A person who is not employed by the federal government but who spends more than 50 percent of his or her working time on federal property (whether as an employee or self-employed) when engaged in farming, grazing, lumbering, mining or other operations that are authorized by the federal government, through a lease or other arrangement, to be carried out entirely or partly on federal property.

      3. A proportion, to be determined by the Secretary, based on persons working on commingled federal and non-federal properties other than those persons covered under paragraph (1)(ii) of this definition.

   2. The term does not refer to a person who reports to a work station that is not on federal property but who spends more than 50 percent of his working time on federal property providing services to operations or activities authorized to be carried out on federal property.

Source: 34 CFR Part 222 (September 29, 1995)