Ohio

Cincinnati

Cincinnati Public Schools will use IDEA stimulus funding to provide professional development to its staff. The district will also use stimulus funding to further promote the implementation of promising and innovative practices as part of its school reform initiative at the elementary school level. These practices include co-teaching, instructional technology, and Response to Intervention strategies within a three-tiered model of academic and behavioral supports. IDEA funding will also provide the district with supplementary equipment and early intervening services.

The district will use State Fiscal Stabilization Fund stimulus dollars to assist in paying for the electricity in the district’s school buildings and will use Title I monies to support the redesigning of schools and the creation of “fifth quarter” instruction. Additionally, Title I funds will support summer schools and contribute to the support of curriculum managers and to ongoing professional development.

Cleveland

Cleveland Metropolitan School District has a number of important priorities in place that will benefit from the stimulus funding available under ARRA. These priorities include a district plan to develop a more robust and timely assessment system that includes both formative and summative assessments, as well as the ability to rapidly transfer assessment data into the district’s existing longitudinal data warehouse for immediate teacher use.

The district will provide regular professional development for all district literacy and math teachers over the two-year period of ARRA funding. Substitute teachers will be used to provide release time for faculty; and state school improvement funds will be used to provide regular coaching of learned skills in the classroom. A grant from the teacher incentive fund will be used to create model lessons for substitute teachers to draw on while regular teachers receive professional development. The district is also planning to provide a variety of additional resources and support services to 10 low-performing “turnaround” schools.

In addition, the district plans to use ARRA funds to create a principal pipeline that invests in identifying and supporting aspiring administrators. This effort will include coaching and developing early-career administrators, deepening leadership skills among mid-career administrators, and identifying master administrators.

Cleveland Metropolitan School District will also provide extended-day instructional services to elementary- and middle-grade students who are below proficiency levels in reading and math. Similarly, extended-day services will be offered to high school students who have failed to meet secondary level exit exam requirements.

The district plans to deepen prevention and early intervention services by developing stronger conditions for learning within school buildings. This effort includes a focus on climate, social-emotional learning challenges, and safety in schools; implementation of a literacy-based social-emotional learning curriculum; identification of curriculum coaches; and professional development for implementing the curriculum. The district also plans to invest in career and college coaching for high school juniors and seniors, to ensure strong high school exit planning and to boost graduation rates.

Additionally, the district will work to strengthen attendance and discipline interventions by investing in professional development and family intervention support efforts, and by increasing the quality of attendance data. Finally, ARRA support will enable the district to double family and community engagement staff during the two-year funding period, which will significantly boost customer service and the school system’s relationships with students’ families.

Columbus

Columbus City Schools was facing a potential cut of up to 20 percent in state education funding. Even though State Fiscal Stabilization Funds will not provide the district with additional monies over the previous year, these funds allowed the district to receive the expected amount of state education funding for the 2009-10 school year and maintain current staff levels.

To maximize the use of ARRA funds, the district’s chief academic officer and chief operating officer solicited proposals from the staff. These proposals were then put into a spreadsheet, categorized by department, function, objective, and potential funding source. The requests exceeded the anticipated ARRA funding amounts, so a committee was formed to prioritize and align the plan with Columbus City Schools’ mission statement and goals for the next two school years. The committee’s decisions resulted in the district plan for using ARRA funds.

The majority of the district’s ARRA Title I funds will be used to support supplemental and additional instructional efforts to help students improve their academic performance. The district is hiring approximately 240 part-time teachers to work with struggling readers in grades K–3, 6, and 7. The district is also adding three preschool sites in high-need areas, along with teachers to support these units. The district also provided an “early experience” for incoming kindergarten classes prior to the start of the 2009-10 school year.

The district is using stimulus funds to support the literacy program with the purchase of additional software and books, instructional materials for the new preschool sites, and academic materials needed for classrooms in Title I schools. An additional set of interpreters will be provided to support the growing needs of the English language learners in the district and their families, and to assist parents with enrollment, teacher meetings, and other school-related activities. ARRA funds will also enable schools to purchase technology to facilitate 21st century learning through hands-on experiences and interactive lessons.

Columbus City Schools’ second largest investment with ARRA Title I funds will support professional development offerings to build the capacity of the district’s instructional staff. ARRA Title I funds will be used to ensure that all district teachers will have the opportunity to engage in high-quality, sustained professional development. For example, these funds will cover the salaries, stipends, release time, etc., needed to provide professional development days during the school year, as well as extended days and Saturday opportunities throughout the next two years. The district will contract with external entities to provide leadership and expertise in Professional Learning Communities and effective instruction to English language learners, while implementing a rigorous curriculum, working with homeless students, and increasing the human resources available to assist the district in delivering the professional development to the schools.

The district will also devote Title I funds to local school improvement efforts. ARRA will be used to hire six teachers who will work with schools that have been specifically identified for improvement based on Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) measures under the No Child Left Behind Act. These teachers—working with two part-time administrators and two data analysts—will help low-performing schools identify problems and achieve the goals in their school improvement plans. The district will contract with experts in the design and

programming necessary to maintain and enhance the online school improvement planning tool used by all Title I schools.

Each Title I school in the district will also receive a significant ARRA allocation, based on the current Title I funding formula, to ensure that each school will have the opportunity to address specific needs related to core academic content areas. The district’s high schools will use their funds for graduation coaches who work directly with students who are either short on required credits or need to pass one or more Ohio Graduation Tests. Schools may also use their ARRA Title I allocation for technology; additional professional development; instructional materials and supplies; tutoring and Saturday School; as well as for other approved Title I purchases that relate to academic improvement in reading and math.

The district’s Office of Innovative Programs will receive ARRA funds for the planning, oversight, implementation, and evaluation of the school system’s Innovative Program Schools. ARRA will enable the district to add staff members who can plan and develop curricula and launch innovative programs in existing school facilities. Innovative school programs will center on a theme, such as international studies or science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).

In addition to supporting the required set-asides (non-public schools, parental involvement, etc.), the district will use Title I ARRA funds to provide additional staff to assist those schools that have an English as a second language (ESL) unit or a high population of students who are English language learners. Related to this, these funds will be used to provide staff development for ESL teachers. Title I will also be used to continue early childhood education at two sites that were slated for closure due to the most recent round of state budget cuts. ARRA funds for Title I will allow these two existing sites to remain open, as well as fund the opening of three news sites in high-need, high-poverty areas.

Columbus City Schools also received an ARRA grant under Title I, Part D funds for students participating in the neglected and delinquent (N&D) program. The majority of funds will be used to support supplemental instructional opportunities for students in the five institutions that participate with the district in the program. The district will increase the hours in existing tutors’ weekly schedules, as well as hire two new part-time tutors to work with the students most academically in need. ARRA will support the N&D tutoring program with additional software, instructional technology, and academic materials. The Title I, Part D funds will also support professional development opportunities to build the capacity of the district teachers assigned to the N&D facilities. These funds will make it possible for the teachers to attend conferences and professional meetings with their peers and education experts.

Columbus City Schools will also receive a significant amount of stimulus funding to improve services for children with disabilities. The majority of ARRA funds under IDEA will be used to support supplemental and additional instructional opportunities for students at the high school level and to upgrade instructional materials used within the special education programs. The district will hire 14 high school intervention specialists who will monitor the academic performance, attendance, and disciple of students with disabilities, as well as provide support for alternate assessments and accommodations for the Ohio Graduation Test. Stimulus funds will be used to purchase adapted instructional materials and software aimed at facilitating access to the general education curriculum, as well as additional software and books supporting the district’s literacy program. In addition, up to six parent consultants will be funded through ARRA IDEA to provide parental support and assistance at special education facilities.

Another major investment undertaken with ARRA IDEA funds is the creation of professional development opportunities that will improve students with disabilities’ access to the general education curriculum. ARRA dollars will enable the district to hire two teachers to work with both special education and general education teachers in areas such as collaborative learning, differentiated instruction, positive behavioral supports, and the use of adaptive technology and software to facilitate access to the general curriculum.

Professional development will be provided to special education teachers, tutors, and related-services staff and administrators, as well as general education staff, in the areas of co-teaching, Ohio CORE requirements, assistive technology, and procedures for new Individualized Education Program (IEP) and evaluation team report forms to ensure compliance with state and federal guidelines ARRA funding for salaries will support opportunities for extended days and Saturday professional development throughout the next two years and can increase the district’s capacity to serve its students significantly.

The district will devote ARRA funds to IDEA support services, which will enable the school system to add 20 support specialists, including 15 instructional assistants, 3.5 (FTE) speech and language pathologists, and 1.5 (FTE) new school psychologists. The district will contract with experts in technology to develop more effective and efficient ways for district teachers and administrators to use data to drive instruction. In addition, an equipment allocation will be used to expand adaptive instructional devices and materials across all grade levels.

Columbus City Schools is also planning to meet a number of vital needs with additional funding available under ARRA. Funds from the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Program will be used to defray the high cost of transportation as a result of allowing homeless students to remain in their school of origin and not having to transfer to a different school during the school year. McKinney-Vento funding will also support transportation for homeless children to attend summer education programs located at shelter agencies in the city. Non-school facilities (shelter agencies) will also receive ARRA funding to support the implementation of the McKinney-Vento requirements and to purchase school supplies and basic educational materials for after-school and summer education programs serving homeless students.

The district’s IDEA early childhood grant under ARRA will be used to provide services to help ensure that children with disabilities have access to high-quality, prekindergarten services, with specific support for additional prekindergarten teachers, instructional assistants, and supplies and materials to support the academic program. The district will use a grant from the National School Lunch Program to pay for new ovens in school cafeterias and update point-of-sale equipment in the school cafeterias. This new equipment will increase speed, accuracy, and system operating time, and will improve the food safety and quality in schools with aging and outdated kitchen facilities. Finally, the district will use an ARRA grant from the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency to increase the fuel efficiency of older school buses, in an effort to reduce emissions and improve gas mileage.

Dayton

Dayton Public Schools began planning for the use of ARRA funds last spring, after the stimulus legislation was enacted. The district shared information about the funds with parents during a district-parent meeting in May, and departments within the school district provided input in the development of a spending plan.

In the first quarter that funding was available, the district used Title I funding under ARRA to create five math instructional positions to provide supplemental support to struggling students. The district also contracted with a private vendor to provide supplemental math instruction to students in non-public schools, and hired the local Educational Services Center to provide an external coach for school improvement efforts.

The school system also used Title I funding to retain a number of important staff positions in jeopardy within the district. These positions included those of a Title I early childhood education parent and community facilitator, whose role is to support district efforts to engage parents in school activities. The district was also able to retain the supplemental educational services (SES) facilitator, who monitors SES provider communication and paperwork among the parents, school, and district; the collaborative language and literacy instruction coach, who provides supplemental support for schoolwide reading teachers at two K-8 schools; and the associate director for Title I, who provides supplemental support for schoolwide humanities.

This district plan for Title I under ARRA includes funding a number of positions that will be filled over time, including those of a Title I ARRA evaluator; Title I intervention teachers to

provide intensive intervention in school improvement locations; and instructional paraprofessionals to support school improvement activities. Dayton Public Schools will also spend Title I funds on neighborhood parent and community centers, instructional technology and software, pre-K transition and elementary intervention programs, as well as on preschool materials, software, and support staff. The district will also spend ARRA funds on a professional development contract with Xavier University.

IDEA funds available to Dayton Public Schools through ARRA will also be used to create and retain important jobs. The district created a vision therapist position for students in non-public schools. The therapist provides Braille instruction and modified materials for visually impaired students attending a non-public school, as well as consultation for general education teachers. The district also used IDEA funds in the first quarter of ARRA to retain jobs for students with disabilities in private placements. These jobs include four intervention specialists and three speech therapists who can continue to provide services in non-public schools. The district is also using the ARRA funds for the purchase of computer automation systems, specifically a Web-based Individualized Education Program (IEP) application to facilitate writing student IEPs.

Dayton Public Schools is currently unsure of the amount of funding available to the district through the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund program, but has prioritized needed textbook adoptions (i.e. social studies) and retaining the Plato Credit Recovery Program. The district also received an ARRA grant through the National School Lunch Program’s kitchen equipment assistance fund, which will help the district modernize equipment and improve the quality and safety of food served to the school system’s students.

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Monday,  April 12, 2010 2:50 AM

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

With millions of stimulus dollars to spend on disabled students, many school districts are buying tools and technology that will stick around long after the one-time money is gone.

Central Ohio districts have spent about $10 million of the $52million received for disabled students, according to figures from the state auditor. A handful of local districts haven’t reported and aren’t included. Of that spending, the largest share is being used to plug budget holes and pay for special-needs staff in most districts.

“We are encouraging school districts to have assistive-technology devices because it can make such a difference in the lives of children with disabilities,” said Paula Goldberg, executive director of the PACER center in Minnesota, a national group that works with parents and educators of disabled students. “Hiring new staff is not necessarily the way they should be going.”

The Hilliard school district bought wheelchair-accessible playground equipment and a specialized school bus. Fairbanks schools in Union County also bought a handicapped-accessible bus. South-Western’s biggest purchases include listening systems for deaf and hard-of-hearing students, talking word processors for students who learn better by listening, and word-prediction software for children who have difficulty learning spelling and grammar. And Gahanna-Jefferson schools bought interactive whiteboards, books, headsets and special timers for disabled students.

“We wanted things with a lasting life well beyond the funding cycle,” said Rae Harriott-White, who is human resources and curriculum coordinator for Gahanna schools. She has been working with the district’s stimulus purchases.

Not everything schools are buying with stimulus money has high-tech bells and whistles. The clocklike timers that Gahanna bought help

special-needs students who struggle to grasp the concept of time. They’re simple and inexpensive – the district has bought about $500 worth of them for about $20 apiece – but they make a difference for the kids who use them, said Goshen Lane Elementary Principal Chad Reynolds.

“It really helps kids take ownership and budget their time,” he said.

Columbus City Schools now have keyboards and a printer for students who read Braille, a high-tech communication device that helps students with significant disabilities, and special software to aid autistic students.

Columbus received more than $15 million in special-needs stimulus funds. The district, which is the state’s largest with more than 51,000 students, has spent $932,000 of its allotment. South-Western, the state’s sixth-largest district, has $4.6million to spend and has used about $300,000 of it.

Several local districts are using the money for textbooks and software for disabled students. A chunk of the $462,000 Hilliard has spent was for books. Upper Arlington used more than $85,000 of its $1.2 million appropriation on teaching materials for everything from social skills to handwriting.

About $150,000 also has gone to train staff members on working with children with disabilities.

Some districts’ tight budgets have meant that almost their entire stimulus boon has gone to everyday teacher expenses.

“We would have liked to have gotten some assistive technology, but we had other needs that trumped it right now,” Reynoldsburg schools spokeswoman Tricia Moore said. Reynoldsburg has $1.3 million to spend. The district wants to buy more devices and aids for students, though, she said.

“We’ll pursue grants or whatever it takes to make that happen.”

jsmithrichards@dispatch.com