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District staff outline federal education funding allocations and contingency plans amid possible federal cuts
Summary
Yankton School District staff reviewed how federal grants — including Title I, IDEA, Title II-A, Title IV and others — are used in the district, detailed allocation amounts for the current year, and described contingency planning given proposals in Congress that could cut some programs.
District administrators and federal-programs staff on the meeting’s agenda presented the district’s consolidated federal grant allocations, how those funds are used, and contingency planning in the event of federal funding reductions.
“Mister Clemensch” (district staff) told the board the district conducts a public consolidated-grant meeting each May “that goes through every item of Title 1, 2A, 3, 4,” and described how Title I funds are used primarily for intervention staff in elementary schools. He said Title I directly supports math and reading interventionists and parent engagement activities.
Staff provided the following allocations and uses for federal programs in the current year as presented to the board:
- Title I: roughly $600,000 allocated; used mainly for staffing (six interventionists across elementary schools) and family engagement. A private school proportional share was listed at about $21,000 for service to eligible private-school students. - Title II-A: approximately $11,284 allocated for teacher training and professional development; staff described use for literacy and other in-service training and a trainer-of-trainers model. - Title IV, Part A: roughly $471,000 noted; staff said portions support student supports including a school resource officer (SRO), part of bus-driver salaries and technology integration work. - IDEA (special education): about $823,000 of federal support for special education salaries and services; staff noted that is less than 20% of the district’s special education budget and that the district relies on it for services to several hundred special-education students. - Title III: the district participates in a consortium with Brandon Valley; the combined allocation noted was about $30,000 to support English-language-learner services shared between districts. - Carl Perkins and other CTE funds: referenced as supporting career and technical education but amounts were not specified in detail.
Staff warned the board about national proposals in Congress that could change federal funding levels. A presentation at a national conference summarized competing House and Senate draft bills: the presenter said a House draft would reduce Title I funding by about $4.7 billion (roughly a 25% cut nationally), while the Senate draft proposed an increase of about $280 million. The speaker also described other discrepancies between House and Senate approaches for IDEA and Title II-A funding.
District administrators said they have taken a cautious approach to hiring for positions funded by federal grants; one position has not been rehired pending clarity on federal appropriations. Staff described using attrition and carryover funds to bridge a possible one-year shortfall for one FTE if necessary.
Board members asked about accountability for private-school proportional-share services, how the state calculates allocations, and how the district estimates hours and costs when allocating private-school shares. Administrators said the state uses free-and-reduced-price-meal counts and other formulas for public and private proportional-share calculations and that the district divides time and dollars based on staff salary and benefit rates to derive hourly reimbursement amounts.
Administrators and board members emphasized the local consequences if federal support declines: special-education programming and intervention services for high-need students rely substantially on federal dollars, and sustained cuts could require the district to seek state extraordinary-cost assistance or to reduce staff-supported services.
