Post by gatormom on Apr 1, 2009 6:22:51 GMT -5
Valley schools to get $48M in stimulus cash
www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beaconnews/news/1505343,2_1_AU01_SCHOOLS_S1.article
April 1, 2009
By ANDRE SALLES AND ERIKA WURST
Local educators will learn today just how they will be allowed to spend their share of roughly $48 million in new federal funds for Fox Valley schools.
The money comes from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the $787 billion stimulus package signed by President Barack Obama in February. Fox Valley school districts will split the lion's share of a combined $64 million for the 14th Congressional District announced by Rep. Bill Foster on Tuesday.
Stimulus money to schools
The new money will go toward special education funding and Title I programs, which provide assistance to low-income children. While local districts have known for some time that they will be getting the funds, they will not receive the final guidelines until today, according to Foster's office.
The specific funding amounts per district were based on existing Title I and special education formulas, according to Foster spokesman Dan McDonald. The totals released Tuesday are estimates, he said.
West Aurora School District spokesman Mike Chapin said the district is still uncertain of what strings come attached to the cash, and the district is waiting to develop a spending plan until such stipulations are divulged.
"There are all kinds of possible variables," he said.
Required matching local contributions, whether the money would need to be used to supplement current special education programs or used to add additional programming is still up in the air, Chapin said.
But one thing is certain. The money must be spent on short-term projects, as they are not guaranteed past two years -- any new programs that are created risk being cut when the stimulus money runs out.
Chapin suggested training for special education teachers would be a good, and temporary, use of the new federal funds.
With $5.8 million in stimulus money coming in, the East Aurora School District is near the top of the heap in the Fox Valley. East Aurora spokesman Clayton Muhammad said the district is prepared to use the funds in any way it is directed to, whether it be new or existing projects. But he agrees that whatever new initiatives are launched, they must be short-term -- those that will provide "maximum impact in a relatively short amount of time."
For some districts, the process has been confusing.
Don Schlomann, superintendent of the St. Charles School District, said the numbers have changed several times. (Figures released Tuesday show St. Charles receiving about $2.8 million.) And according to preliminary guidelines released on the Department of Education Web site earlier this month, about half the federal funds must go to new programs.
"We're appreciative of what they're doing here, but no one wants to be in the position of hiring new people and having to cut them again (in two years)," Schlomann said.
McDonald said any guidelines released to this point are not the final ones, and today's information should clarify matters.
Kriss Monn, assistant superintendent for finance at the Oswego School District, said he's feeling the same confusion.
"I'm still unsure when those funds are coming to us, and with what premises," Monn said. "What requirements come along with this money? Until we get final guidance on that," the district can't make any decisions.
Monn said the short-term spending in a special education arena could go toward technology, an area currently outside the school's resources.
"Technology is just as important in special education classrooms as it is in core classrooms," Monn said. "But the cost of the right type of technology to meet a certain student's needs costs a lot more than we can provide."
Here is a look at the estimated amount of money coming into area school districts for Title 1 and special education programs.
East Aurora: $5.8 million
West Aurora: $4.4 million
Indian Prairie: $4.8 million
Batavia: $1.4 million
Geneva: $1.2 million
St. Charles: $2.8 million
Kaneland: $671,000
Hinckley/Big Rock: $264,283
Oswego: $1.7 million
Yorkville: $674,000
Plano: $470,139
Sandwich: $617,591
Somonauk: $219,873
Newark: $116,746
Indian Creek: $240,136
Source: U.S. Department of Education
www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beaconnews/news/1505343,2_1_AU01_SCHOOLS_S1.article
April 1, 2009
By ANDRE SALLES AND ERIKA WURST
Local educators will learn today just how they will be allowed to spend their share of roughly $48 million in new federal funds for Fox Valley schools.
The money comes from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the $787 billion stimulus package signed by President Barack Obama in February. Fox Valley school districts will split the lion's share of a combined $64 million for the 14th Congressional District announced by Rep. Bill Foster on Tuesday.
Stimulus money to schools
The new money will go toward special education funding and Title I programs, which provide assistance to low-income children. While local districts have known for some time that they will be getting the funds, they will not receive the final guidelines until today, according to Foster's office.
The specific funding amounts per district were based on existing Title I and special education formulas, according to Foster spokesman Dan McDonald. The totals released Tuesday are estimates, he said.
West Aurora School District spokesman Mike Chapin said the district is still uncertain of what strings come attached to the cash, and the district is waiting to develop a spending plan until such stipulations are divulged.
"There are all kinds of possible variables," he said.
Required matching local contributions, whether the money would need to be used to supplement current special education programs or used to add additional programming is still up in the air, Chapin said.
But one thing is certain. The money must be spent on short-term projects, as they are not guaranteed past two years -- any new programs that are created risk being cut when the stimulus money runs out.
Chapin suggested training for special education teachers would be a good, and temporary, use of the new federal funds.
With $5.8 million in stimulus money coming in, the East Aurora School District is near the top of the heap in the Fox Valley. East Aurora spokesman Clayton Muhammad said the district is prepared to use the funds in any way it is directed to, whether it be new or existing projects. But he agrees that whatever new initiatives are launched, they must be short-term -- those that will provide "maximum impact in a relatively short amount of time."
For some districts, the process has been confusing.
Don Schlomann, superintendent of the St. Charles School District, said the numbers have changed several times. (Figures released Tuesday show St. Charles receiving about $2.8 million.) And according to preliminary guidelines released on the Department of Education Web site earlier this month, about half the federal funds must go to new programs.
"We're appreciative of what they're doing here, but no one wants to be in the position of hiring new people and having to cut them again (in two years)," Schlomann said.
McDonald said any guidelines released to this point are not the final ones, and today's information should clarify matters.
Kriss Monn, assistant superintendent for finance at the Oswego School District, said he's feeling the same confusion.
"I'm still unsure when those funds are coming to us, and with what premises," Monn said. "What requirements come along with this money? Until we get final guidance on that," the district can't make any decisions.
Monn said the short-term spending in a special education arena could go toward technology, an area currently outside the school's resources.
"Technology is just as important in special education classrooms as it is in core classrooms," Monn said. "But the cost of the right type of technology to meet a certain student's needs costs a lot more than we can provide."
Here is a look at the estimated amount of money coming into area school districts for Title 1 and special education programs.
East Aurora: $5.8 million
West Aurora: $4.4 million
Indian Prairie: $4.8 million
Batavia: $1.4 million
Geneva: $1.2 million
St. Charles: $2.8 million
Kaneland: $671,000
Hinckley/Big Rock: $264,283
Oswego: $1.7 million
Yorkville: $674,000
Plano: $470,139
Sandwich: $617,591
Somonauk: $219,873
Newark: $116,746
Indian Creek: $240,136
Source: U.S. Department of Education