This resource is a member of a series. The TIGER/Line shapefiles and related database files (.dbf) are an extract of selected geographic and cartographic information from the U.S. Census Bureau's Master Address File / Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing (MAF/TIGER) System (MTS). The MTS represents a seamless national file with no overlaps or gaps between parts, however, each TIGER/Line shapefile is designed to stand alone as an independent data set, or they can be combined to cover the entire nation.

The Census Bureau obtains the boundaries, names, local education agency codes, grade ranges, and school district levels for school districts from state education officials via the School District Review Program (SDRP). The SDRP is a U.S. Department of Education National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) sponsored program conducted annually by the U.S. Census Bureau. It is of vital importance for the state's allocation of federal funding under Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) as amended by Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015, Public Law 114-95. The updated school district boundary information submitted through this program are used by the Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE) program in forming the Census Bureau's estimates of the number of children aged 5 through 17 in families in poverty for each school district. These estimates are the basis of the Title I allocation for school districts in each state. School district boundaries are also used to develop estimates of social, economic, demographic, and housing conditions from the American Community Survey (ACS), and they provide essential geographic information to help education program administrators and researchers investigate location-based questions. TIGER/Line Shapefiles include separate shapefiles for elementary, secondary, unified, and administrative school districts. The school district boundaries are those in operation as of January 1, 2025.