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Board approves Title I and IV grant applications; benefits update says no employee contribution increase
Summary
The Spotsylvania board approved Title I and Title IV grant applications (Title I ~ $4.0M supporting 37 FTEs; Title IV ~$297K for districtwide services). Benefits consultant reported claims moderation and said employees will not see contribution increases this year, though employer-side funding needs remain for budget planning.
The Spotsylvania County School Board voted 5-2 on June 9 to approve the district’s Title I and Title IV grant applications after staff described how the funds would be used across schools.
Jamie Malinach, director of professional learning, summarized the Title I allocation as roughly $4 million for the coming year; staff said the application attaches about 37 FTEs to Title I-funded positions districtwide (interventionists, reading specialists, math specialists and other instructional supports) and explained that school allocations follow the federal formula based on free/reduced-price-meal percentages. For Title IV (a Student Support and Academic Enrichment grant), Malinach said the $297,000 application will support a district gifted FTE, a CTE coordinator FTE, professional development and required private-school set-asides.
"Title I funds support supplemental staffing and interventions for schools with higher concentrations of need," the superintendent said, adding that allocations are driven by federal rules and school needs assessments. Board members pressed for clarity about which schools have behavior interventionists and how Title I staffing aligns with disciplinary data; staff provided lists of Title I schools and the schools that currently have behavior-intervention positions and said allocations can change year-to-year based on needs assessments.
Separately, benefits consultant Mark Browder (Mark III) presented the health-plan update: the district’s self-funded plan saw high-claim spikes in recent years (oncology was noted as a major driver), but contract negotiations, pharmacy strategies and wellness programs had reduced the funding gap. Browder and staff said there are employer-side funding needs to be addressed in the FY26–27 budget process, but emphasized that "there is no increase in employee contributions" to the plan for the coming year.
The board approved the grant applications and took note of benefits and budget implications for upcoming fiscal planning.
