Board briefed on withheld Title II/III/IV funds; district says ~6.4 FTE at risk without release

Grant administrators told the Flagler County School Board July 22 that state and federal reviews have delayed the release of new Title II, III and IV allocations, creating immediate budget uncertainty for services that support teachers, English learners and student attendance.

“Currently, we are experiencing a withholding period on Title 2, Title 3, and Title 4,” said Miss York, a district grants administrator. She said the Florida Department of Education has issued one-year no-cost extensions that permit the district to access roll-forward dollars from the prior year while the new allocations are withheld.

District staff estimated about $250,000 in roll-forward funds across the three grants; staff said those dollars would be prioritized for ongoing salaries and immediate school resources. The allocations the district expects when funds are released are roughly $492,000 for Title II, about $69,000 for Title III and $241,000 for Title IV, as stated by grants staff.

Staff described the programs these grants support: Title II supports teacher and principal professional development and district-level instructional coaching; Title III funds supplemental curricular materials and supports for English-language learners; and Title IV covers items such as an attendance specialist, summer programs (the “Great Minds” summer program was cited) and other supplemental student supports. Grants staff said the district pays roughly $30,000 annually for the Elevation instructional platform used with English learners.

Grants staff and the superintendent warned that if the withheld funds are not released the general fund cannot fully absorb all federal-funded positions. The district identified about 4 positions pro-rated across teaching-and-learning functions (Title II), two full-time positions (an attendance specialist and an ESOL specialist) and roughly 0.4 of a position for summer Great Minds instructional staff — a total of about 6.4 full-time-equivalent (FTE) positions that depend at least in part on federal grant dollars.

“We don’t want to negatively impact our staff at this point,” grants staff told the board, and said the district is prioritizing salaries and immediate classroom supports while it waits for definitive state or federal direction.

Adult-education staff said they received a no-cost extension and a recent roll-forward of $35,000 for adult general-education and IELCE programs for ESOL, and that pending allocations for adult general education and ESOL were roughly $123,869 and $29,000 respectively. Those roll-forward dollars will be used for salaries including a portion of a marketing and recruitment specialist, a testing specialist portion, one full-time teacher for GED classes, six part-time adult-education instructors and three part-time ESOL teachers, adult-education staff said.

Board members pressed staff to prepare multiple contingency plans (plan A/B/C) for staffing and program continuity if the funds remain withheld. Staff said they are in regular communication with state and federal partners and are evaluating short-term alternative grant sources and community partners (including CareerSource and local migrant associations) to try to sustain services if needed.

The board received the briefing as information; staff said they will return with specific recommendations if roll-forward funds or allocations are insufficient and if changes to staffing are required.