Federal Funds Request Will Exceed $9.8 Million

Administrators will ask the school board to approve the District’s application for $9,820,854 in federal funds at the board meeting on Thursday, June 18. This year’s grant application is the largest ever and hopes to tap some of the stimulus funds made available by Congress and President Obama.

Given the state of the economy and recent budget cuts locally, this federal money will play a larger role in the District’s general fund budget next year than ever before. If the application is funded, federal dollars would account for nearly one in eight dollars spent by the District from its general fund in 2009-2010. 

The increasing importance of federal money follows a trend that has been ongoing for the last five years. In 2004-2005, the District received $7.67 million for operations from Uncle Sam. If approved, this year’s grant would cap a five-year rise that has seen federal funding grow from 11.1 percent of the general fund budget in 2004-2005 to nearly 12.5 percent in 2009-2010.

Board Agenda Highlights

• 2009-2010 budget update
• contract approvals for Western Dakota Tech bargaining groups
• contract approval for food service employees
• Board of Education legislative resolutions  including requests that the Legislature: allow cities to enact a 1 cent sales tax to support local schools; provide enhancements to the education funding formula to take effect after the federal stimulus money runs out, provide additional funding for technical education, and provide additional funding to meet the needs of students enrolled as a result of a court order.

The biggest share of the District’s federal funds come under the provisions of Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Passed originally in 1965, this act has been amended many times. In 2001, it was relabeled the No Child Left Behind Act.

Title 1 funds can be used to provide supplementary educational services to schools with high percentages of students whose family incomes are below the poverty level. For next year, these schools include Black Hawk, Canyon Lake, General Beadle, Horace Mann, Knollwood, Rapid Valley, South Park and Valley View elementary schools, as well as North Middle School. Supplementary educational services can include instructional services for reading and math, professional development and support for parental involvement.

Although Title I dollars come from Uncle Sam (or more accurately those of us who pay federal taxes), the money is actually awarded to the Rapid City Area Schools and other districts by the state Department of Education. According to Lisa Plumb, who oversees federal grants for the District, the award is generally made in August shortly before school starts.

This year, Plumb says, administrators have been particularly challenged to identify effective ways to spend an expected $3 million in one-time federal stimulus funds without creating expectations for continued operational funding in future years. “We have looked particularly at technology purchases,” Plumb says, “like Promethean boards in the classroom.”

The Administration has cautioned the Board that increased federal funding has come with higher expectations for reporting and accountability for student success. “Moreover, the district must use the grant monies to supplement, not supplant local monies,” the Administration’s memo concludes. In other words, board members, legislators and taxpayers shouldn’t look to the federal government to solve Rapid City’s educational funding issue. If local and state dollars don’t keep pace with federal funding, Uncle Sam’s dollars may not be forthcoming at the same level in the future.