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Board approves nearly $656,000 in state school‑improvement funding for low‑performing schools
Summary
The board accepted state School Improvement Grant awards to support three comprehensive support schools and two targeted support schools; total awards run through September 2025 and include literacy, tutoring and extended learning costs.
The Petersburg school board voted March 19 to accept School Improvement Grant (SIG) funding awarded by the Virginia Department of Education to support turnaround and targeted improvement work at several schools.
April Bunt (presenting via Zoom) and grant manager Dr. McArthur Jackson described the SIG awards’ timeline and allowable uses. The grant package totals roughly $656,000 and must be fully spent by Sept. 2, 2025, staff said. The largest component funds “comprehensive support” schools — Vernon Johns, Lakemont and Marye‑Mount Jones Middle School — with combined allocations tied to evidence‑based interventions such as literacy camps, reading and math tutors and materials. The presentation said those schools are among the lowest‑performing 5% of Title I schools in the state and qualified for the larger SIG allocations after multiple years of underperformance.
“We have the support of the state,” Dr. Jackson told the board, describing the required research backing for purchased interventions and the division’s internal monitoring and fiscal review procedures.
Two other schools qualified as “targeted support and improvement” schools and will receive smaller awards (about $50,000 maximum) for focused reading and math tutoring. The board motion approved the SIG budgets and the related extended‑learning grants; staff will monitor spending and document purchases for state monitoring visits, which the presentation said will include a division‑level meeting in April and school‑level monitoring thereafter.
Board members asked for clarity about the “meeting and planning” line items and whether the dollars would support teacher stipends or consultant fees. Dr. Jackson said planning funds typically pay for after‑hours planning and teacher stipends (for example, extra Saturday or evening work), and are intended to be used only as approved in each school’s grant application.
Next steps: staff will finalize procurement and implementation schedules, continue fiscal monitoring and prepare for VDOE monitoring visits. The grants’ short timeline — award letters were finalized in March even though the grants’ effective date is Oct. 1, 2024 — requires accelerated procurement, presenters said.
