MOUNT VERNON — The public school Title funding freeze took Ohio, and the nation for that matter, by storm.
Superintendents from across Knox County had an anxiety-ridden month as they steered through frozen and now somewhat unfrozen federal funding.
On June 30, the federal government froze north of $6 billion in public school funding across the nation.
Specifically, Titles II-A, III-A, and IV-A funds were in question.
What do these funds do?
- “Increase student achievement consistent with state standards.”
- “Improve the quality and effectiveness of teachers, principals and other school leaders.”
- “Increase the number of teachers, principals and other school leaders who are effective in improving student academic achievements in schools.”
- “Provide low-income and minority students greater access to effective teachers, principals and other school leaders.”
- “Help English learners and immigrant students attain English language proficiency.”
- “Assist English learners and immigrant students to meet challenging State academic standards.”
- “Assist teachers, principals and other school leaders in providing effective language instruction to English learners and immigrant students.”
- “Develop and enhance capacity of staff to provide effective language instruction programs for English learners and immigrant students.”
- “Promote family and community participation in English language instruction programs.”
- “Provide all students with access to a well-rounded education.”
- “Improve school conditions for student learning.”
- “Improve the use of technology in order to improve the academic achievement and digital literacy of all students.”
Life in and out of the freeze
At the end of June, Ohio schools were in a “wait-and-see” mode, as roughly $184 million of the $6 billion had already been allocated to them.
Fast forward to late July, superintendents were busy planning for the funds, and without the funds, for this school year and future years. Thankfully, most funding unfroze or will be unfrozen, and superintendents are resting easier.
So, how do a few superintendents from the area use these funds, and what does life look like with and without them?
Supt. Bill Seder, Mount Vernon schools
Bill Seder, Supt. of Mount Vernon schools, said the district received $160,000 last year in Title II-A funds.
“We primarily use our Title II-A to support additional instructions, it’s called class size reduction,” Seder said. “We’ve really targeted two teachers in that area to really focus on literacy.”
Seder said he is grateful to receive the $160,000, and if that funding is frozen or unfrozen, his approach wouldn’t change.
“We still believe there’s a need, and we would find a way to make that work,” Seder said.
Making it work would more than likely mean pulling from a general fund to conduct business as usual or, in a worst-case scenario, making cuts.
Mount Vernon schools, as well as the other schools in the area, don’t really get direct money from Title III-A funds, as that money is put into consortia.
“Because we get such a small amount, they kind of pool the money together and use it to support English language learner and immigrant students,” Seder said. “I think last year, we might have sent about $4,800 to the Licking Educational Service Center to help support that consortia of our Title III monies.”
Mount Vernon schools had an original allocation of $67,765 from Title IV-A funds. Seder distributes that money between five different programs.
The programs include: science of reading and professional development, ClassLink, Forecast 5, STEM supplies in elementary buildings, and ThoughtExchange.
“It’s [ThoughtExchange] an online program where we pose essential questions to the community, and they share with us their thoughts about a particular question,” Seder said.
“Everybody gets to see the thoughts that are shared, and then others have the opportunity to rate those thoughts, almost like Amazon on a 1-to-5 scale.
“That lets us know what’s really important to the community relative to a specific question.”
Danville weighs in
Jason Snively, the superintendent of Danville Local School District, was nervous that around $90,000 in federal monies wouldn’t be coming to his district this year.
“For example, last year, we had about $47,000 in Title II-A and Title IV-A,” Snively said. “Potentially, the change from last year is about $47,000, with those two areas being frozen right now.
“The other $43,000 is just what we were being reduced anyhow from other federal programs.”
Danville schools use a majority of their federal funding for salaries. Snively was preparing to pull the money needed to pay employees from a general fund.
That’s an idea Seder and Gary Chapman, the superintendent of Fredericktown Local School District, were also pondering.
“We didn’t make any drastic changes, and it really didn’t change our direction because what we have going on are things we need to provide,” Snively said. “Even though it’s a concern, we still have the financial standing where we can absorb that for at least a year.
“But, long term, when it comes to the next four or five years, that this is permanently frozen or a continuous reduction, then we’re going to have to look at our budgeting for the next time around.”
Fredericktown would have pulled from general fund
Much like the other superintendents, Chapman was preparing to pull from a general fund to supplement the previously frozen Title funds for Fredericktown schools.
Using the general fund wasn’t a concern for Chapman; similarly to Mount Vernon and Danville, the bulk of Fredericktown’s federal funding had already been allocated through Title I and IDEA funds.
However, as of July 23, Fredericktown schools have not received their federal food service funds, according to Chapman.
“This has been something we are keeping an eye on,” said Chapman. “For us, that’s [the federal food service funding] about $310,000.”
Looking forward
The general theme among the three superintendents, and a lot of others across Ohio and the nation, is uncertainty.
Will this happen again next year? Will this freeze be permanent next time? Are funding numbers going to continue decreasing? Will we have to make cuts or pull from my general fund more down the road?
All of these questions, and many more, superintendents in Knox County and across America are asking. There aren’t many concrete answers yet.
Even though this school year’s freeze seems to be coming to an end, future school years could look a lot different.
“We would just like to know where we are so we can take care of kids, that’s what matters most,” Chapman said.