Stimulus package headed to schools

Alleghany County Schools could receive $612,000 under the recently passed federal stimulus package legislation that was signed last week by President Barack Obama.

The school system would receive an estimated $612,000 for school years 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 under the plan if things progress as expected, said Superintendent Jeff Cox. Cox said the information still had not officially been sent out to school systems by the N.C. Department of Public Instruction on Monday. While the amount sounds impressive, Cox said that cuts proposed by the state government would likely counterbalance the influx of funding.

As for what the school system would use the funds, Cox said, "It's still a little bit premature for us to know that at this point. We had a conference call Friday (Feb. 20) with the staff at DPI going over what potential cuts might be coming from there and how some of that money might be used to offset some of the cuts that might be coming...."

During that conference call, Cox said he was told that part of the stimulus package is going directly to states to help offset budget shortfalls.

"DPI had made certain plans on projecting a budget plan with either a 3, 5, or 7 percent reduction," Cox said. "DPI has published what their recommended budget would be under each of those scenarios."

Based on projections, he said the county school system was "looking at the potential for a 5 percent cut this year, but with the stimulus package, we're not sure how that will affect those numbers."

With the budget process still months from being complete, everyone is still working with projections, Cox reminded. "That budget was not endorsed by the state board or approved by legislators, but the scenarios were designed to show what cuts would have to be made to deal with reductions of those amounts," he reiterated.

In terms of DPI's recommendations, one of the areas that would be of definite interest for our community would be a substantial cut in funding for teacher assistants. "We get funding now in excess of $900 per K-3 student to fund teacher assistants," Cox said. "The proposal under all three budget cut scenarios would be to reduce that to only fund K-2 students."

The net effect would be a 25 percent reduction in those funds, he said.

Cox said that would definitely lead to the loss of jobs if those cuts came to pass. Although he declined to be specific about numbers, he said, "It would mean we would be forced to cut a number of positions."

However the stimulus money could help offset some of those loses. "It could help us offset some of the shortfall," he said.

Under the proposal that was released by the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee, the county would receive some $280,000 in Title I funds and another $332,000 in IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) funds. IDEA funds are earmarked for special needs programs, said Cox, adding, "You can't use those funds to go hire just any teacher assistant with those funds, the employee has to work with disabled children."

As for the IDEA funds, Cox said the reason for those funds was to help fund the mandates of No Child Left Behind, which requires all students to be on grade level or to show progress toward reaching grade level. "I think the feeling was that the program had been under-funded since its inception," he said.

Those funds will allow more instructional support for disabled children, he noted.

No Child Left Behind has requirements that all students either be on grade level or be moving toward grade level, showing improvement every year. Special needs children typically need more aid in reaching these goals, he said.

 

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