Mt. View board reviews federal budget funds

BY PAT FARNELLI
Correspondent

The Mountain View School Board was apprised of federal programs and grants available to the school district during budget presentations at
Monday’s meeting.

Superintendent Karen Voigt discussed local, state and federal grants in her presentation, including IDEA, Ready to Learn, and Title 1 and 2 federal grant programs, with a chart showing grants received since 2012 as well as budgeted and requested funding. Mountain View has received local IDEA grant funding in amounts,ranging from $182,467 in 2012-13 to $204,641.41 in 2015-16, and has,budgeted for $200,000.

The state Ready to Learn grant request was for $191,469, she said. This year’s Ready to Learn grant was $157,000. Title 1 and II federal grants, which were received in the amounts of $274,286.22 and $62,621.63 for the current school year, were budgeted for $258,720 and $97,398. That brings the total budgeted grant funding for 2016-17 to $713,118.

Title 1 funding for supplemental education for remedial purposes is expected to pay for the salaries/benefits of four teachers, and instructional materials. Title IIA funding supports professional development for core subject areas plus music and art. Under the new Every Student Succeeds directives, these funds have a broader application, Voigt said.

The new Title IV funding program will begin in the 2016-17 school year, and this funding will help with school climate, safe schools, child abuse, and other issues, Voigt said. The Ready to Learn Program will partially fund (50 percent) the salaries of four kindergarten teachers. Hybrid Learning will support about 13 teachers, with a possible three added in the 2016-17 school year. Two grant programs, MTSS and RTTT, will not be available for the 2016-17 school year. The PLTW program will continue with funding from the Community Foundation. The board approved the transfer of $5,000 from the general fund to the athletic fund.

The board approved the CSIU agreement for 2016-17 for fund accounting, payroll and personnel in the amount of $10,500. Karen Galvin of Lathrop Township was appointed as a speech pathologist at a salary of $74,386. The board accepted the letter of resignation for retirement purposes from Debra Earley from her Kindergarten position effective June 3. “She will be greatly, greatly missed, and we wish her the best,” Dr. Christopher Lake said.

The district will be participating in a random sampling of schools. Mountain View will be studied in regards to parent involvement, which is Indicator 8, said Director of Special Services Gail Wnorowski.

William Ritter was approved as a long term substitute for having more than 30 consecutive days as an elementary teacher with the rate of
$160 per day effective May 9.

The board voted to vacate all fall and winter coaching coaching appointments from the 2015-16 school year, and to advertise for all of these coaching positions for the 2016-17 school year.

The coaches’ salaries were then approved as presented.

All supplemental salary positions were likewise vacated and then approved for posting for the 2016-17 school year. Maintenance Director Robert Taylor reported that the softball and baseball fields are ready to go, and lawn mowing is underway. A bridge on SR 106 will be completely closed from June 6-Nov. 1. An informational meeting on this closure will be held at the Lenox Township building on May 24.

The Scholastic Bowl academic team went to Chicago for national competition.

A choral concert will be held on Thursday night at 7 p.m., and the band concert will be on Friday night at 7 p.m.