Stimulus money to pay for teachers

After months of going over the terms of the federal stimulus money with a fine-toothed comb, Culpeper County School officials are finally ready to reveal how they plan to use the much-needed funding.

Jim Allen, interim director of instruction and curriculum for Culpeper County Public Schools, recently announced that some of the money would be used to hire more teachers.

Allen shared the news with the Culpeper County School Board and new Superintendent Bobbi Johnson, who starts on July 1, during the annual summer retreat Friday evening.

He said the money would go toward hiring teachers at the county’s three Title I schools: Pearl Sample, Farmington and Sycamore Park elementary schools.

As part of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, federal money is provided to assist schools with the highest poverty levels — referred to as Title I schools — to meet the needs of the school division’s educational goals.

“We’re going to be able to handle the population there,” he said of the Title I schools.

School Board member Leanne Jenkins asked why the money wasn’t going to Yowell or Emerald Hill, the county’s two elementary schools with the highest enrollment.

“Yowell is hurting,” Jenkins said pointing to a CCPS enrollment spreadsheet.

Allen explained that Yowell is not a Title I school.

In order to disperse the funding across the school system, Allen said school officials have suggested “moving a position, not a teacher” from Sycamore Park and/or Pearl Sample to Yowell and/or Emerald Hill and fund it through the Title I program.

“It’s kind of like moving money from pot to pot to be able to pay for some of these teachers,” Allen explained. “Russell (Houck, principal of Sycamore Park) is going to be doing some moving. He’s going to lose a (kindergarten) position to move over to Yowell. And then we’re going to be adding one additional position at the fifth-grade level through stimulus at Sycamore.”

According to the April enrollment figures, Emerald Hill had 848 students — the highest in the district compared to the other five elementary schools. Yowell had 578, ranking second highest.

“That’s where all of the new housing developments are,” said School Board member Elizabeth Hutchins, referring to the new subdivisions off U.S. 522 near Yowell Elementary School.

Farmington had the fewest students with 428, according to the April figures.

Hutchins also asked Allen what happens to those positions when “that money dries up?”

“At Pearl Sample and at Sycamore, we’re putting those at the higher grade levels because we may not have that bubble,” Allen said. “We’re hoping that maybe in two years, we can pay for them out of regular Title I.”

In March, the board included the $2.2 million in additional federal funding provided by the Obama administration to help stimulate the economy in its $70.6 million operating budget for fiscal year 2010, which begins July 1.

Kindergarten influx
This fall, Allen predicts a large number of kindergarteners will enter the public school system.

“Sycamore Park had 68 students this year in kindergarten,” Allen said. “They have already enrolled 83 (for the upcoming school year).”

Johnson asked Allen how the early numbers compared to the actual enrollment population.

“It varies,” he said. “Sometimes it may be 80 percent.”

Starr Rowe, human resources director for CCPS, pointed out that when the total number of kindergartners is divided by the amount of kindergarten teachers it still equals a 21 to 1 student/teacher ratio.

“We have told principals that we are going to wait until August to see if these children show up,” Rowe added.

School Board member Anne Luckinbill asked Allen if he thought the school division would need to hire more kindergarten teachers.

“I think we are,” said Allen.

Dasher also warned about the possibility of an influx of private school students that may be transferring to the public school system due to the souring economy.

“That could be a real player here,” said Dasher.