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District expects roughly $800,000 in ongoing federal grants; Title II uncertain; school-based health center grant funds counselors
Summary
Staff told the Finance Committee Title I, IDEA and some other federal grants look likely to continue; Title II funding is uncertain. The district also said a federal school-based health center grant funds counselors at three elementary schools over the next year.
District staff gave the Board of Education Finance Committee an update on federal grant funding and a school-based health center award.
Staff said ongoing federal grants — including IDEA and Title I — look ‘‘pretty solid’’ based on state-level communications; those ongoing federal grants underpin roughly $800,000 in federal grant revenue the district expects. Staff added that Title II (teacher-quality/professional development) is less certain going forward and earlier reductions in similar teacher-preparation programs have been reported statewide.
Staff said Title I funding is expected to return next year and described the federal flow: federal money comes to the state, which disperses it to towns and districts. The meeting record shows the district did not budget some of the federal funds initially because staff were not confident they would be continued at the time the draft budget was prepared.
On the school-based health center grant: presenters said the competitive federal grant funded a school counselor for two years and will continue into the next budget year. Currently the district has a counselor at Ryerson and at Jeffrey; next year the district plans to add a counselor at Brown, bringing the total to three counselors (about 1.5 counselor full-time-equivalent at each elementary school by district staffing plans for student populations of about 600 and 550 respectively).
Staff noted the Title II grant amount is roughly $27,000 and that it covers teacher professional development rather than staff salaries; the district’s leadership said losing that grant would likely not require staff reductions but could reduce professional-development activities.
Attribution: Questions about the school-based health center were raised by committee member Emily; district staff provided the grant details and staffing plans.
