For months, talk of the availability of federal stimulus funds has been just that—talk. In recent weeks, however, it has become official that Area Education Agencies and local school districts will receive a boost with stimulus funding. Specifically, AEA 267 will receive approximately $7,350,000 in stimulus dollars for use over two years.
The government has outlined four guiding principles for the use of the stimulus dollars:
- Spend quickly to save and create jobs
- Ensure transparency and accountability
- Thoughtfully invest in one-time funds
- Advance effective reforms
AEA 267’s use of stimulus dollars will be aligned with district needs. A careful examination of the following data resources is taking place:
- 2008 on-line survey of AEA 267’s Comprehensive Service Improvement Plan taken by 59 of 60 districts
- Summary report of 60 AEA leadership team visits to each of our 60 school districts and their leadership or school improvement team
- All 60 LEA Comprehensive School Improvement Plans (CSIPs) and Annual Progress Reports (APRs)
- DE LEA Site Visit Reports (as available); and
- other student achievement data.
Planning will move swiftly so that the money can be put to use as quickly as possible. It is hoped that by next month an official list of priorities and initiatives can be shared with all staff and the public.
“This additional funding will allow us to retain our current work force and add positions in priority areas for the next two years,†said Dr. Dean Meier, chief administrator. “While the funding is short-term, it does provide us with an exciting opportunity to see what can be done to increase student achievement with additional resources. We feel fortunate to be in this position.â€
It is unclear whether additional funding will be available after the two years are up.
If the saving or creating of positions is a goal of the stimulus plan, why are we not going to continue the CTE position in Clear Lake>
The CTE consulting position is funded through a contract with the Region 2 Perkins Consortium which is made up of 24 local districts. The Consortium has decided to reallocate their dollars so that those funds flow to local programs and thus are not contracting with AEA 267 for that position.
Both the CEC and the Federal Department of Education have published some excellent summaries of what is covered in the stimulus plan and how it may be used.
We have lost adaptive P.E. consultant positions in the past 2 years. These people are wonderful resources to local P.E. programs, particularly with children in full inclusion programs, but for many other situations as well. Could the lost positions be restored?
Thanks for your suggestion. No final decisions have been made at this point as we continue to work to match the most pressing needs of our school districts with the funds available. As the article states, we are looking at a variety of substantial data sources provided by our districts to help in the process.