Laredo ISD outlines federal grant allocations — Title I nearly $15 million; special education and CTE funding presented

LAREDO, Texas — At its June 24 meeting, LAREDO ISD staff presented the district’s planned applications and use of federal funds for the 2025–26 school year, detailing amounts and object‑code breakdowns for multiple entitlements including Title I, Title II, Title III, Title IV, Perkins and IDEA grants.

Jose Islaola, the district’s executive director of federal programs, school improvement, and accountability, presented the Title I allocation at about $14,999,877 for July 1, 2025–Sept. 30, 2026. He summarized allowable uses — intervention and enrichment programs, extended‑day/week tutorials, technology initiatives, professional development, health services, parent and family engagement and additional FTEs (campus facilitators, teachers, instructional deans, digital learning specialists, behavior specialists and several coordinator roles). Object‑code breakdowns presented included a payroll total of $12,005,637; professional/contracted services of about $1,500,893; supplies and materials and other operating costs and indirect costs included in the total.

Title I, Part C (migratory children) was presented at $67,542; Title II, Part A (supporting effective instruction) at $1,434,717; and Title IV, Part A (student support and academic enrichment) at $1,132,826. For Title III, Part A (English language acquisition), Dr. Carmen Pompa presented $988,879, and a separate Title III immigrant award of $35,722. Raul Gomez, director of special education, presented IDEA B formula funding at $4,643,582 and IDEA B preschool and discretionary deaf allocations (including $114,932 for the discretionary Deaf program). Perkins V funding for CTE was shown at $397,681.

Trustees pressed for more line‑item detail and asked how large professional‑services totals were being spent. Trustee Goyo M. Lopez asked for a breakdown of the roughly $1.6 million listed under professional and contracted services; Islaola said staff will provide a more detailed breakdown in August when final calculations are available.

Trustees and staff discussed STEM‑related programming and safety expenditures. Under Title IV the district funds robotics and STEAM initiatives; Islaola said about $17,490 was spent on robotics supplies last school year and that the current plan kept robotics funding level despite an overall 4% reduction in Title IV funds. Trustees also questioned a prior allocation for detectors (referred to in the presentation as “vape detectors” or safety detectors). Islaola said detector funds were previously allocated but not spent and that, based on stakeholder feedback, the district plans to shift emphasis toward prevention programs (Chance and Lift) and counseling interventions rather than relying solely on detectors. He and trustees discussed counselor training, safety phone plans and PBIS/Tier‑3 spending; Islaola listed examples of last school year’s Title IV safety‑related allocations including $57,600 for a safety phone plan, $15,000 for counselor training, $4,800 for PBIS training and roughly $24,000 each for tier‑3 and for sale/signal items as presented.

Perkins funding for career and technical education is budgeted largely for instructional equipment and capital outlay ($139,808 listed), payroll for two positions (CTE coordinator and a technician) and certification/exam costs. The presentation reminded trustees that Perkins does not allow purchasing consumable supplies and that Perkins allocations are driven by district census data; the district reported an increase in Perkins funding compared with the prior year of $54,783.

Special education leaders said most IDEA dollars go to payroll for teachers and staff; Raul Gomez told trustees the district currently has the number of special education teachers needed but relies on substitutes at times for teacher aides. Trustees asked whether a school psychologist for ages 3–5 had been hired; Gomez said a psychologist would begin July 1 under the IDEA preschool budget.

Why it matters: These federal entitlements fund instructional positions, interventions and safety programs in Laredo ISD schools. Trustees asked staff to produce more detailed line‑item information when they return in August so the board can see how professional‑service dollars and safety‑related funds will be deployed.

Key follow‑ups: Staff committed to provide more detailed breakdowns of professional and contracted services, and to continue consultations with safety and discipline departments about the balance between detectors and prevention programs.