Stimulus funds headed to schools

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School superintendents from across Bureau County and the rest of the state traveled to Springfield this week to learn more about the federal stimulus dollars about to pour into their schools.

The superintendents attended the Illinois Association of School Administrators annual conference, which had to add a hasty seminar of the stimulus funds after an announcement made Tuesday.

Rep. Bill Foster, D-Batavia, who represents the northwest corner of Bureau County, was one of many politicians who announced the school funding on Tuesday. In a press release, Foster said 14th District public schools could receive $63,470,579 in investments as a result of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan, H.R.1.

“These funds will make an immediate difference for cash-strapped schools, and we will see the benefits for decades to come, as we will have a better prepared, more educated generation competing and winning in the global marketplace,” said Foster.

According to the press release, the funding would be additional money on top of the existing Fiscal Year 2009 appropriations for schools. Specifically, district schools will receive allocations for Title I, which provides assistance to school districts with high numbers or percentages of low income children, and IDEA, which supports educational services for students with disabilities.

The dollar figures were impressive. The data released by Foster showed the Bureau Valley School District would receive $368,561, and data for other county schools showed every school in the county would benefit, including the Princeton Elementary District with $344,208 and the Spring Valley Elementary District with $184,029.

There was only one problem.

“A lot of information being released is inaccurate,” said Spring Valley Superintendent Dan Marenda, who attended the IASA meeting.

Marenda said the figures are very preliminary and are not taking into account such factors as enrollment or poverty levels, and he and the other superintendents don’t know if their districts will receive more or less.

Marenda said the IASA presenters gave a few warnings about the funds as well. The money must be spent within the next two years, and shouldn’t be used to pay for teachers because the districts would have to pay the teachers out of their own funds after the two-year period was up.

Instead, superintendents were told to look at one-time expenses, particularly in the area of professional development.

Marenda said work has begun to determine how much each district will receive, and the final numbers should be out by late April or early May.

Marenda couldn’t say how his district would end up spending the money but said the extra dollars would be a good thing for area schools.

“It’s certainly going to help us, especially in the area of special education,” he said.

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