Local ROE gets $79,000 in grants

The Regional Office of Education for Bureau, Stark, and Henry counties was recently given $79,000 in grant money to be directed towards migrant education outreach and professional development on English as a Second Language instruction.

Nearly $400,000 in federal grants was awarded to the 24 Regional Offices of Education throughout the state. The grants will enable the local ROE’s to provide professional development to rural and small, local district staffs on ESL instruction. The grant will also enable the local districts to identify and serve migrant children.

“The money will not be disseminated out to the schools but will be used by the ROE to provide training and guidance for ESL students,” said Matt Vanover, spokesperson for the Illinois State Board of Education in Springfield.

Vanover said this is the second year for the ESL grant but the first year for the migrant schools grant.

According to a release, the number of Limited English Proficiency (LEP) students has increased dramatically over the past decade. In 1998, less than 26,000 LEP students were served in Illinois’ bilingual education programs. That number has increased to more than 160,000 students in 2006.

“We are committed to making sure that every child in Illinois has access to education and our LEP students are a growing segment that we have to be able to serve,” said State Superintendent of Education Christopher Koch. “These grants allow the Regional Offices to work locally, within their communities to make sure migrant and LEP students are properly identified and are getting the resources they need to be successful.”

Of the $79,000 given to the ROE office in Atkinson, $5,000 of that will be directed toward professional development, or ESL instruction. The professional development portion will assist the ROE office in providing rural districts with the knowledge and awareness of state and federal laws requiring the provision of ESL instruction.

The grant will also enable the ROE the ability to provide instruction on bilingual best practices to administrators, general education teachers, ESL teachers, bilingual teachers and teacher aides.

The money for both grant programs comes from federal No Child Left Behind funds.

Steve Sash, principal at DePue School, said they served about 80 ESL kids in the elementary school last year and 10 students in the junior high and high school.

The school has a full-time bilingual teacher and part-time bilingual certified staff members, Sash said.

“I’ve called the ROE to see what we need to do to be a part of the program. We’re just hoping we can get more funding for what we’re already doing. Anytime we can improve the education we’re providing, it’s a good thing,” Sash said.

Patti Lunn, principal at Hall High School said they are also pleased with the announcement of the grant money.

Lunn said they currently have five students in the ESL program but expect that to increase with the coming school year.

“It’s wonderful that our ROE received this money,” Lunn said.

Several calls to the ROE office were not returned by press time.

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