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District outlines use of Patterson Family Foundation teacher-pipeline grant
Summary
District staff described how a $100,000 Patterson Family Foundation grant (spread over four years) is being used to fund tuition reimbursement and licensing for local employees, with priority for special-education and in-district vacancies.
The Paola Unified School District presented details Tuesday on how it is spending a $100,000 teacher-pipeline grant from the Patterson Family Foundation, a private philanthropy that funds programs in rural counties.
District staff said the grant, awarded over four years beginning last school year, is intended to increase the number of certified teachers in the district by helping existing employees complete required coursework and licensure. Justin (district staff presenter) told the board the foundation defines "rural" as Kansas counties with populations under 50,000 and that Patterson grants are targeted to education, economic opportunity, health care and community engagement.
Justin said the district is offering grants up to $8,000 per year for tuition reimbursement, adding the district’s employee tuition reimbursement program provides $900 per year — "so almost $9,000 per year that we can give an individual," he said. The district prioritized applicants in five levels: (1) openings or mis‑licensed employees at one of the district’s four school buildings; (2) staffing needs within the special‑education cooperative (with a distinction for programs that serve multiple districts vs. single‑district interrelated positions); (3) paraprofessionals seeking a teaching degree; (4) staff adding an additional license; and (5) co‑op employees adding licenses.
Justin provided results from the first two grant cycles. In 2023–24 the district received eight applications and funded five (all priority levels 1 and 2), spending about $14,500; one funded employee completed a full license. For the current year the district received 17 applications and funded 11 (priority 1 and 2a), and Justin estimated the district will spend about $45,000 this year and leave roughly $40,000 for the remaining two years of the grant.
He said expected outcomes by the end of the year include five English-as-a-second-language certifications, one instructor qualified to teach Fort Scott dual‑enrollment classes, one social worker moving from a bachelor’s to a master’s degree, three K–12 special‑education certifications, and one employee adding elementary certification paired with SPED, plus six other staff working toward credentials.
Board members asked whether neighboring districts use the same priority levels; Justin said those districts develop their own criteria and that Lewisburg and Prairie View have also received Patterson funding. He also described constraints for concurrent (dual) enrollment: instructors generally need a master’s degree plus 18 graduate hours in their content area before they can teach college courses for Fort Scott.
The board received the report as an information item; no formal board action was required. Justin said the district will continue to report on grant use in future board materials.
Paola’s board materials note the Patterson Family Foundation reported $51,300,000 in grants to qualifying counties in 2023, information Justin cited when explaining the scale of the foundation’s work.
