Both came and went for Lakota with little time for discussion among the district’s administration, its teachers union and the state despite the program’s introduction in late July 2009.
Lakota’s portion of federal funds — to be dished out from Columbus — was conservatively anticipated to have been between $120,000 and $240,000 during the next four years.
That’s a paperclip in the district’s $165 million supply closet. But it’s also money that could have started coming in the same year the Board of Education — as expected — places a levy before voters. And it could have eased the burn of state funding decreases over the next two years and the unfunded but mandated all-day kindergarten.
District officials — those from the teachers union and the administration — said there were problems obtaining information from the state that eventually presented itself in the 11th hour: Would a district like Lakota — affluent and rated excellent with distinction — qualify for Title I funds, which are meant to help the most impoverished students? Could the money be spent elsewhere?
The short answer is yes and yes.
Superintendent Mike Taylor said he received final notification from the state Jan. 4 that his district would qualify for the money.
Lakota Education Association President Judy Buschle said she only began having conversations with administrators late last month. Buschle said she was first made aware of the program in late August or early September.
However, representatives from the Ohio Department of Education said this week they began “consistently” providing information to public school districts as early as the fall 2009. And that application procedures from the federal government were finalized Nov. 19, which led to communication about the memorandum of understanding Dec. 18.
Deadlines part of why Lakota declined funds
Lakota Local Schools could be receiving as much as $240,000 during the next four years to assist in closing gaps in student achievement and measuring the success of its teachers and students’ preparation for their next stages in life.
But the move would have required the vote of its teachers union, rapid decision making and a costly implementation of programs district officials say are redundant to some current policies and practices.
Instead, Lakota will go without that money at a time when its board will be asking voters for more of theirs.
They’re in the minority across the state, as Department of Education officials reported this week more than 460 public and community schools signed on to participate in the federal Race to the Top program, including local districts like Edgewood, Fairfield, New Miami and Talawanda.
Information passing muddled, delayed
Last summer, the federal government introduced Race to the Top to pay for education reform through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The program provides stimulus dollars to states to help its lowest performing and most impoverished schools.
The amount each state receives is based on the percentage of funds it uses to help poor students, also known as the federal Title I(A) program.
The amount local school districts receive is based on the percentage of Title I funds they use — in Lakota’s case, less than 0.15 percent, according to state formulas.
Despite the method of administering the program, Race to the Top funds can be spent in any way a local district deems fit so long as they support the program's purpose, according to Scott Blake, press secretary for the Ohio Department of Education.
Although questions abounded, Blake said the state was clear about how the money could be spent.
“ The questions really centered around how the funds were going to flow,’’ he said.
Lakota administrators and leaders from its teachers union disagree. They say questions about whether their district could participate were answered only recently, and that going for their share wouldn’t have been cost effective.
Too much to overcome
“I think everyone was somewhat surprised that there was no concurrence to move forward,” said School Board President Joan Powell.
While the program was introduced in July, officials said they never had a final answer about whether Lakota could participate or how much it could receive until the past few weeks.
Officials at the state’s Department of Education say they received final notification about the application process from the federal government Nov. 19; final information about the memorandum of understanding was received a month later.
The memorandum of understanding required by the state would have likely been cause for a vote of approval by the Lakota Education Association, according to Union President Judy Buschle.
In addition to the time it would take for such a vote, Buschle said the union may have had difficulty supporting a program where nearly half the allotted funds are slated to go to Ohio’s charter schools, as “they have different levels of accountability.”
Even greater than the time for a vote and charter school funding, though, was the concept that a memorandum of understanding could have meant changes in the way local teachers are evaluated.
Currently, Lakota teachers are evaluated based on the Charlotte Danielson Model, which depends on “self-assessment, reflection on practice and professional conversations,” according to its Web site. It is not linked to student achievement. But the suggested method for Race to the Top is.
Trust not at issue, officials say
During a conference call Jan. 5 about Race to the Top involving state education leaders and more than 400 participants — including a few from Lakota — Sue Taylor, president of the Ohio Federation of Teachers, said the program’s success hinged on trust between a district’s administration and its teachers union.
Fresh off heated negotiations in late 2008 — spurred along by a federal mediator, overwhelming support from the union’s rank-and-file to strike and finally an 11th-hour deal — Buschle, administrators and board members said trust never played a role in the decision to pass on federal funds.
“Since our last negotiations, we have gone back and started working together again,” Buschle said.
Negotiations have already begun on the teachers’ next contract, which expires in June.
‘Even a nickel is enough’ in levy year
Lakota officials have long said 2010 is an anticipated levy year.
A nearly $9 million deficit next year, state funding cuts — 1 percent this year and 2 percent the following year — and unfunded mandates like all-day kindergarten will likely force the board’s collective hand to the ballot as early as May.
Questions about how much to ask of local residents or when to present them with a ballot issue remain unanswered. That could change, though, as the month rolls on.
Both Mike Taylor and members of the board said going after the federal money may have been more costly than what they would receive in return.
It’s also not like the district has turned up its nose to federal funds. Last year, local officials announced they received $3.5 million in stimulus dollars to update buildings and to pad the general fund.
But the conservative estimate of between $120,000 to $240,000 for which Lakota was thought to be eligible through Race to the Top is still important, especially during a levy year.
“The return would not have been enough,” new board member Ray Murray said.
“But anything is enough in a levy year. A nickel is enough.
“I am disappointed that it didn’t make its way to the board, but I am sure that the union and the administration, if they had seen any way that we could have benefited from it, they would have hammered it out.”
Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2112 or dgreber@coxohio.com.
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