Funding from the federal Cares Act and the American Rescue Plan are based on the U.S. Department of Education’s Title 1 formula.

It’s calculated using Census data on students living in poverty between the ages of 5 and 17.

But two North Country school districts, Long Lake and Indian Lake, have such small populations that they don’t meet the 10-student minimum threshold for receiving Title 1 funding. 

“Our school district is in Frontier Status," Long Lake Central School District superintendent and principal Noelle Short told Capital Tonight. “We’re more like county in Montana than in New York.”

Long Lake’s population of total enrolled students, pre-K through 12th grade is 70. While 40% of the district’s students qualify for Free and Reduced Lunch (FRPL), often cited as a measure of poverty, it doesn’t meet the 10 student Title 1 threshold of “poor."

“If they were to use a percentage, rather than a stand-alone number, we would qualify,” Short said.

New York state Sen. Jim Tedisco and Assemblyman Robert Smullen are aware of the situation, according to Short, who recently received a letter from the two lawmakers saying they would try to work on her behalf to bring funding to the district. But there’s not much time left. The legislative session ends on June 10.