Amherst County School Board approves special-education annual plan, requests $1.05 million and $22,952 in grants

The Amherst County School Board voted to approve the divisions special-education annual plan and accompanying grant requests at its meeting.

Dr. Jessica Barbara Johnson, a district staff member who presented the plan, told the board the Section 6.11 request for school-age special-education programs totaled $1,050,381 and would fund 10 teachers and 10 instructional assistants. She said the Section 6.19 early-childhood special-education request was $22,952 and would fund a portion of one early-childhood teacher.

A staff member (Speaker 2) moved to approve the application before the boards last meeting ahead of the state deadline; the motion was seconded and approved by voice vote. The application must be submitted to the Virginia Department of Education by May 8.

Why it matters: the grant money would directly fund personnel the division says are needed to deliver required services for students with disabilities. Board members asked for routine reporting and clarified that staff would bring back additional documentation (including Medicaid-related reporting) to show how grant funds and other revenue sources will be tracked.

Board action and next steps: staff will finalize the grant documents and submit the Part B application to the state. Board requests at the meeting included a subsequent report showing how the special-education funds, Medicaid receipts and local budgeting interrelate.

Quote: "That is a request of $1,050,381, and that would fund 10 teachers and 10 instructional assistants," Dr. Jessica Barbara Johnson said as she summarized the 6.11 request.

The boards vote was recorded by voice; no individual recorded roll-call tallies were provided in the meeting transcript.