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Joliet Township High School District 204 board hears federal grant allocations and program uses
Summary
District presenters outlined how federal grants — including Title I, II, IV, IDEA, Perkins/CTE and Title III — are being spent on teachers, programs, professional development and targeted services for multilingual and at-risk students.
Diane McDonald, introduced as a presenter, told the board that Title I’s goals are to boost reading and math performance, support effective instruction through professional development, increase parent involvement and support homeless students. "We received 1,651,972 for our Title I grant," she said, adding that about 31% of that amount went to salaries and benefits, roughly 42.2% to programs and licenses (Apex, Renaissance, Carnegie Math, IXL) and about 14% to professional development.
The board was also told that Title II funding (reported as 259,542 dollars) supports teacher mentoring, retention and instructional leadership, while Title IV dollars support well-rounded education, school conditions and technology initiatives tied to AVID professional development and alternative learning opportunities. Presenters described CTE/Perkins funding (about $600,000 across two grants) as focused on supplies and equipment for hands-on programs, partial tuition for dual-enrollment JJC courses, certifications and work-based learning supports.
District grant managers explained that IDEA remains the largest special-education funding stream the district administers, with roughly 1.7 million dollars received this year and significant carryover from COVID-era allocations. They said most IDEA deliverables go to salaries and benefits, with remaining funds used for clinicians, curriculum and contracted services.
Why it matters: board members asked whether carryover funds can be applied to construction or consultant contracts; presenters said the district is identifying allowable larger expenditures to reduce carryover and noted restrictions when funds are used in settings such as detention centers. For example, a Title I delinquent allocation to support River Valley Detention Center had an initial allocation near 49,000 dollars with roughly 15,000 in carryover and faces spending limitations tied to the detention environment.
District leaders recommended steps to protect assessment fidelity and student supports tied to grant-funded programs: implementing a lockdown browser for future universal screening and strengthening MTSS teams with multilingual coordinators at each campus. The presenters said several programs funded by grants — AVID, PLTW, dual enrollment, summer internships and targeted interventions — are designed to translate federal dollars into classroom or student-facing services.
Next steps: the board approved the annual Title I plan for submission to the state. Staff said they will continue to coordinate grant managers monthly to monitor expenditures and identify allowable uses for carryover funds.
