Worthington schools outline Title I funding, which supports extra intervention staff
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Summary
District officials described how Title I federal funds are allocated to schools based on free-and-reduced-lunch rates, prioritized by grade band, and used primarily to hire intervention staff; the district expects roughly $1.3 million in Title I funding this year and is preparing schoolwide plans for three buildings.
Rob Messenheimer, Worthington schools’ director of elementary education, told the board that Title I is the district’s largest federal education grant and is aimed at “level[ing] the playing field for students that come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.” He said the district uses free-and-reduced-lunch percentages to rank schools for Title I eligibility and has adopted a grade-band rank order (K–5, 6–8, high school) to prioritize early intervention.
Messenheimer said the district received about $1,300,000 through Title I last year and expects a similar amount this school year. “We use those funds primarily to add intervention staff to our building,” he said, adding that this year the district funded the equivalent of 10.5 full-time teachers who provide math and reading intervention across the Title I-served schools.
The presentation listed the schools that currently receive Title I support: Brookside Elementary, Worthing Way Middle, Colonial Hills, Liberty, Worthington Estates, Granby, Worthington Park, Perry Middle School and Slate Hill Elementary. Messenheimer said two or three buildings now qualify for a schoolwide designation (over 40% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch) and that the district is “working on plans that will submit to the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce” describing how it will implement schoolwide programs.
Messenheimer emphasized Title I’s “supplement, not supplant” rule, saying the money should add services rather than replace district-funded programs. He described two Title I program types: targeted-assistance schools, where funds must serve only individual students identified as the most academically at risk, and schoolwide schools, where funds can support strategies across the entire building because of the high share of students from low-income households.
Board members asked how the district documents its rank order and whether the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) reviews the selections; Messenheimer said the rank order is part of the grant application and an ODE requirement. Questions also covered how the district measures the effectiveness of interventions; Messenheimer noted that the district uses its MTSS (multi-tiered systems of support) process and building-level assessments to monitor student growth and the impact of intervention staffing.
Messenheimer and board members discussed geographic patterns in the district’s economically disadvantaged population, with continued growth in the northeast quadrant and specific increases at Worthington Park, Slate Hill and Worthington Estates. He said Title I family-engagement funds (about 1% of the district’s Title I allocation) support parent meetings, literacy/math nights and other outreach; buildings tailor those activities to local needs, for example by providing translation devices at Slate Hill.
The board did not take any formal vote on Title I during the presentation. Messenheimer indicated staff will finalize and submit schoolwide implementation plans to ODE for the buildings that now meet the schoolwide threshold.