Clarksburg School Sees Rise in Grant Funding
CLARKSBURG, Mass. — Like many school districts, Clarksburg has been holding its breath on grant funding. But the new is good.
"We've gotten our numbers coming in for our grant allocations ... as you remember, part of our budget is we're banking on a certain amount of grants coming in," Assistant Superintendent Tara Barnes told the School Committee last Thursday. "This grant money is always a gamble, because we don't know until this time of year what amount we're getting."
The good news, she said, is that the school district has received its grant allocations for everything so far except state Rural School Aid.
There is an increase in federal Title I and II grants and IV is being level-funded. All three grants support students who are struggling with reading. The federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) grants for special education came in slightly higher with the 240 general special education grant $200 more at $66,269 and the 262 grant for children with special needs age 3 to 5 at one dollar more.
"Overall, it's a 4 percent increase from last year over what we received in terms of federal rates," said Barnes, adding another expected grant is up about $2,000 to $27,415 but "what we're waiting to hear about is the Rural Aid, it's bigger chunks of money than the other cups. ...
"Historically, we've gotten around 140, 145 (thousand dollars) like in that area. So by my calculations, with what we've banked on getting, if we can just get $111,000 we'll hit our mark, and anything beyond that will be funds that we can use toward other things. So I think we're in a good shape, all in all."
That was just for Clarksburg, she said, and the other Northern Berkshire School Union district's didn't fare as a well. "Everybody else went down a little bit."
Clarksburg also got a boost in a Student Opportunity Act grant Barnes applied for in June. Only select districts were allowed to apply for an extra year of the original two-year grant.
"We had a small pocket, like a million dollars of SOA funds that they had to distribute. Even though the grant was going for two years, they wanted to do a year three with some schools," she said. "I've done year one and year two, so we were allowed to apply. There were only 10 schools chosen. We were one of the schools chosen to receive and have that money, and the cap was $100,000 to share between the four schools [in the district]."
She and Superintendent John Franzoni were recommending the district distribute the funds based on the percentages each town school pays into the union. Clarksburg would get 55 percent, with the balance shared proportionally between the town of Florida, Rowe and Savoy. Monroe's 4 percent would be split among the other four towns since it does not have a school building.
This $55,000 will help with the school's "very tight budget" and school officials are determining where that money may best be spent.
Kim Rougeau provided her first report at principal since taking over on July 1. The longtime Clarksburg teacher said she'd "jumped right in" prior to her start date and noted that her duties had also encompassed some project management with the ongoing roof replacement.
"I'm getting comfortable in my role," she said. "Everything started to fall into place and I'm feeling really good."
The summer program — shortened because of the roof project — had fewer students this year but everything was positive, Rougeau said, and she listed off a number of new hires and staffing changes within the building. The school currently has 213 registered students; it was fewer than 200 for nearly a decade, and as low as 163 in 2016, before climbing in the last few years.
"I anticipate more, I see a lot of for sale signs," the principal said.
Administrators are reviewing enrollment documentation to ensure that only Clarksburg and accepted school-choice students are attending the school. The school's been running into issues with students being enrolled who do not actually live in the town.
"Because of our numbers situation in the school, where there's one classroom for a grade level and they're all full, you have to question to make sure that the application packages are filled out thoroughly," said Franzoni. "It's not just a building numbers issue, it's not just a financial issue. It's also a safety issue.
"If you're in the situation with a child at school and you want to make sure that the child is safe, well, or whatever may be the case, and the family hasn't provided us with accurate information about where they actually live. That's dangerous."
The meeting also discussed the potential for collaboration in special education to reduce out-of-district placements; hiring an interim business administrator; review of a corrective action plan for the cafeteria and new point-of-sale software; the hiring of a new adjustment counselor to replace a contracted company; the replacement of the flooring in the kindergarten wing and a donation by Mountain View Painters to paint the classrooms; reaching out to the McCann Technical School carpentry program to create a welcome sign and planters at the entrance; the town's Department of Public Works stabilizing the school sign and replanting flowers; and the possibility of getting digital signage.
The school union will be undergoing a feasibility study with North Adams Public Schools and Hoosac Valley Regional School District on possible consolidation in Grades 7 through 12. This is being funded through a $100,000 earmark from the Fair Share Act, with possibly more funding available. School committees will be voting on joining the study in the next couple months; any recommendations coming out of the study would also have to be approved by the participating towns.
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