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March 2009 – American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
April 1, 2009 | | Leave a Comment
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) which President Obama signed into law on February 17th includes funding going to the U.S. Department of Education for states. States will be allowed to use their portion of nearly $100 billion in stimulus aid for education with a focus on pumping out money quickly to spur economic recovery and save jobs.
Within the state of Pennsylvania, the state will receive $2.7 billion in the new Education for Aid. Stimulus funds for education in the state of Pennsylvania will include $1.6 billion from the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund (SFSF), $399 million for Title I aid and $456 million for IDEA aid for Special Education. The Department of Education is working closely with school districts to maximize their use of taxpayers’ dollars provided through the Federal Stimulus law.
The Milton Area School District’s share of the State Fiscal Stabilization Funds (SFSF) will be $808,837.00. Under the Title I for SFSF it is $223,500.00, under Title I for education of the disadvantaged it is $264,500.00, under Special Education IDEA it will be $425,700.00, and under Title II D for technology upgrades it is $11,600.00.
o SFSF – this money can be used as specified in the existing state law. Amounts up to the rate of inflation can be used to pay ongoing costs of existing programs. The remainder must be used for early childhood education, longer school days, more days in the school year, and to expand other proven academic programs.
o Title I formula for the SFSF – this can be used for modernization, renovation and repair of facilities, basic education, special education, career & technical education, and adult & family literacy.
o Title I, Education for the Disadvantaged – this can be used for improving math and reading instruction in high poverty schools.
o Special Education IDEA Aid – districts may provide special education programs and services to students with disabilities.
o Title II D, technology upgrades – can be used for integrating technology into the school and curriculum and providing related professional development.
Even though these funds have been received from the federal level to the state and are being dispersed and monitored by the state, school districts are reminded to be very careful and not supplant local funds but to supplement current programs. These definitions need to be very clear with the district as they submit paperwork to receive these additional funds.
The nice thing of the funding stream is that some of the funds allow you to utilize them in other categories. For example, under the category of academic investments, the state identifies Classrooms for the Future (CFF) as a possible use of funds. In the past, CFF was targeted as a high school program only. Under this new funding stream, CFF can now be extended to the middle school. Funds from Title I SFSF, Title II D, and IDEA can all be used to support this particular program if the district would so choose.
The Milton Area School District is currently looking at all programs to make the best determination for utilization of these funds for academic investment, school safety and professional development.
After listening to several Senators and Representatives in Harrisburg, districts around the Commonwealth have been cautioned about planning to expend these funds until the General Assembly gets an opportunity to decide how these funds will be distributed. School districts will hopefully receive that information from the General Assembly as budgets are being developed and reviewed by the school boards during the month of April, and then take this to the board for preliminary approval in May. Therefore, the determination from the General Assembly on how these funds would be utilized is timely information that the districts need in order to move forward with applying these funds at the local level.
