Miss Haxey, the district staff member presenting the Title IV-A student support and academic enrichment program, told the Finance & Operations Committee on Jan. 8 that the grant covers a broad set of activities across three required areas.

"This is a Title grant," Miss Haxey said. "There is 2 year use but we write it every year. ... There are 3 buckets: well rounded educational opportunities, safe and healthy schools, and effective use of technology, and the grant application requires us to have a certain percentage in each of these buckets."

Examples provided by Miss Haxey under the well-rounded-education bucket included college-and-career advisors, college-prep textbooks, AP training and exam payment, funding to increase access to STEM, world languages, arts and social studies, limited curriculum-writing support, and purchases such as maps and globes. She said the district funds field trips and college visits and cited a small Chinese-language program at Clinton Avenue and Fairhaven as an example.

Under safe and healthy schools, Haxey listed anti-bullying and social-emotional learning initiatives, climate surveys, student-council activities, parent-involvement tools (including phone-translation services) and at-risk student programs for middle and high school. She said the district will fund bullying-prevention training and fund conference attendance for staff ("we're gonna pay for a conference for Doctor Baker to get more training"). Haxey also noted the district planned to purchase sanitary products for girls in school laboratories, citing recent state legislation enabling that use of Title IV-A funds.

For effective use of technology, Haxey said the grant pays for classroom apps and digital instructional tools (Screencastify, Padlet, Gimkit, Kami and similar platforms) and supports a district blended credit-recovery program that combines online and in-person elements.

Doctor Yarbrough thanked Haxey for the overview and asked that the district report outcomes tied to these investments. "You named a number of things that have been expressed as very important to members of the district," Yarbrough said. "I look forward to hearing about some of the outcomes."

The presentation was an information item; the committee did not take formal action on the grant at the meeting. Committee members asked that outcome measures and needs-assessment results be tracked and shared as the district implements the funded activities.