Federal Race and Ethnicity Categories

In compliance with the Office of Management and Budget’s 1997 Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity, and with the Iowa Department of Education, the Muscatine Community School District will collect new race and ethnicity data for all students enrolling or reenrolling into school beginning with the 2009 – 2010 school year.

When completing your student’s enrollment form, you will be asked two questions:

1. Is this student Hispanic/Latino? (Yes or No)
   (A person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race.)
2. What is the student’s race?
   • American Indian or Alaska Native (A person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America), and who maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment.)
   • Asian (A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam.)
   • Black or African American (A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa.)
   • Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander (A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands.)
   • White (A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa.)

For your convenience, we’ve provided the following links to more information regarding the Federal Race and Ethnicity data changes:

• Frequently Asked Questions
• FORUM GUIDE TO IMPLEMENTING NEW FEDERAL RACE AND ETHNICITY CATEGORIES
  -National Forum on Education Statistics
• IMPLEMENTING THE NEW FEDERAL RACE AND ETHNICITY CATEGORIES
  -Iowa Department of Education
• Revisions to the Standards for the Classification of Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity
  -Office of Management and Budget @ whitehouse.gov
• Final Guidance on Maintaining, Collecting and Reporting Racial and Ethnic Data to the U.S. Department of Education
  -Federal Register, Vol. 72, No. 202, Friday, October 19, 2007