News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
The White County Board of Education approved some $233,000 in funding Thursday night for after-school programs.
Director of Schools Kurt Dronebarger said the 21st Century Community Learning Centers have been paid for by federal grants for over fifteen years. Two weeks ago, the system’s grant application denied. The funding will cover three elementary and the middle school programs.
“There are students that need this homework help that won’t get it otherwise, that won’t get this academic help after school,” Dronebarger said. “There are parents that count on this for daycare, for until they can get off work, a lot of hard-working parents that are counting on this program. And there are teachers that are counting on this as part of supplemental income.”
Dronebarger said they applied for the grant last March. The programs begin August 19. Dronebarger said they are working with the board attorney to appeal the decision and identify any errors that were made when scoring the application. Dronebarger said they may get that money back if they win their appeal, but they need to start looking into other options for after-school care in the future.
“It would buy us an opportunity to apply maybe for other grants or look at other opportunities,” Dronebarger said. “We have spoken to some groups in town, we could explore paid options for some folks, but with two weeks to go, it’s hard to get something else off the ground that is going to match the kind of service that we were providing.”
The board discussed eliminating the after school program at the middle school to save some $34,000 but ultimately decided to fund it.
“They don’t have a lot of homework given in middle school because they do a lot of it in the classroom,” Dronebarger said. “And we’ve just found that those students are picked up pretty quick in the program. They’re usually gone by 4:15 and so we’re not getting our money’s worth out of that program historically.”
Supported Learning Supervisor Farrah Griffith said cutting the middle school’s program would likely have a negative academic impact on the student body.
“The folks that work after school are the teachers,” Griffith said. “And they’re academic teachers and we’re very purposeful in hiring teachers to help in those academic areas where there’s need.”
The grant covers Findlay, Woodland Park, and BonDeCroft Elementary Schools and White County Middle School. Dronebarger said the after-school programs for Northfield, Cassville, and Doyle Elementary Schools are funded through a separate grant that will be intact for the next two years.
“We were really blown away that we did not receive approval,” Dronebarger said. “We missed it by five or six points and (are) still trying to figure out exactly what that means and where we fell short.”
In other business, Board Member Adam Hickey said the system added nearly $2 million to the general purpose fund last year for a total of almost $15,000,000. The board also approved a memorandum of understanding with Cumberland University for one of its students to be in the distract shadowing Athletic Trainer Brent Ryan.
