Dayton Independent Schools

Dayton schools to use federal dollars to retain staff

Despite a roughly $183,000 cut, more than 30 federally funded professional and paraprofessional positions in the Dayton Independent School District during the past school year will remain intact for the 2011-2012 academic year.

That is the good news as the district’s central office staff prepares to formally allocate by July 1 $1,092,229 in Title I, Title II-A, and Title III-A federal funds and another $741,860 in federal special-education aid for the upcoming school year.

Title I monies, the direct U.S. government source of instructional staffing, totals about $906,000, down from last year’s approximately $1,089,000, the latter of which included the district’s unspent 2009-2010 Title I funding.

The funding streams flow from Washington through the Texas Education Agency and into district coffers. Each title alludes to a section of federal law that authorizes the funding. The public had an opportunity to become learned in the district’s spending plan and to comment on DISD’s use of federal funds at a special daytime board meeting held June 21 at the school district’s headquarters.

Titles I, II and III will make a difference in the classroom, where it counts, the school district’s Assistant Superintendent of Student Services Dr. Bill Chambers said.

“That $906,000 is a lot of money,” Chambers said. “It’s going to pay about nine teachers’ salaries, 12 aides in place. Of that 906 thousand, $751,000 some odd dollars will go to pay salaries and stipends.”

For instance, Title I funds are used to pay $1,500 of the $5,500 stipend that each of the district’s 19 hard-to-attract bilingual teachers will receive in the 2011-2012 academic year, he said.

“We have a consultant firm that will submit our application for us,” said Chambers, who has spent 30 years of his 40-year career dealing with federal education funds. “They will do that by July 1, and we will have opportunities to amend that application. If we find some staffing funding for our teachers, or for some instructional programs for materials for our students that better fit the need than what we’ve planned at this day, at this moment in time, then we have the flexibility to amend that application and to move the money around.

“By law, on this Title I, we can move 25 percent of that $906,000 into one of the fund codes that we already have put money into.”

“Comprehensive needs assessments” at the district and campus levels will help to guide spending, to include the use of federal funds rolled over from 2010-2011, whether that money is devoted to staff development, instructional materials or another disbursement, Chambers said. Grades and test scores drive the process.

NASCAR Star Tony Stewart and The Office Depot Foundation Team Up ...

WHO:

Tony Stewart, a two-time NASCAR® Sprint Cup Series™ champion and driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil1 Chevrolet, will headline a special “Back-To-School Celebration” event at the local Office Depot store in Florence, Kentucky. Stewart is partnering with The Office Depot Foundation to help Northern Kentucky kids get ready for the new school year with the essential tools they need to succeed in the classroom.

Other special guests include:

• Florence Mayor Diane E. Whalen

• Boone County Schools Superintendent Randy Poe

• Covington Independent Schools Superintendent Lynda Jackson

• Newport Independent School District Interim Superintendent Dan Sullivan

Organizations scheduled to receive donations include:

• Boone County Schools

• Brighton Center

• Campbell County Schools

• Covington Independent Schools

• Dayton Independent Schools

• Gallatin County Schools

• Kenton County Schools

• Ludlow Independent Schools

• New Perceptions

• Newport Independent Schools

• NKCAC – Head Start Program

• Silver Grove Independent Schools

• Speedway Children’s Charities

WHAT:

Stewart is partnering with Office Depot and the Office Depot Foundation for this special “Back-To-School Celebration” and will be donating new sackpacks in five colorful designs that contain essential school supplies to Northern Kentucky children in need.

At the event, Stewart will assist the Foundation in donating 3,000 sackpacks to representatives from local schools and non-profit organizations as part of the Office Depot Foundation’s National Backpack Program.

The Foundation donates sackpacks across the United States and internationally in an effort to help kids succeed in school. By the end of this year, Office Depot and the Office Depot Foundation will have helped more than 2.5 million children in need since the program began in 2001. Stewart will assist the Foundation in donating 350,000 sackpacks nationwide in 2011, which is the most given out in a single year.

Note to media:

These sackpacks are not available to the general public. The sackpacks are being donated only to designated non-profit organizations.

Report of the Treasurer

Cincinnati Magazine

Cincinnati Magazine

Cincinnati Magazine

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