FDL REPORTER - Economic stimulus will benefit city, area schools

Economic stimulus will benefit city, area schools

The Reporter Staff

The Fond du Lac School District will receive almost $626,500 and North Fond du Lac public schools will get $91,000 in economic stimulus money to fund Title I programs.

The federal funding, which will total more than $1 billion for Wisconsin and be distributed in multiple phases, will go toward educating students from low-income families and students with special needs, expanding professional development opportunities for teachers, and helping promote reforms at schools identified for improvement under the No Child Left Behind Act.

U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold announced that the Department of Education released initial funding Wednesday from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), also known as the economic stimulus, to school districts across Wisconsin.

This first phase of stimulus funding for education will be made available through formula Title I grants and formula Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) grants.

Area school districts are scheduled to receive the following funds:

# Beaver Dam, $281,382.

# Campbellsport, $78,878.

# Fond du Lac, $626,500.

# Horicon, $69,018.

# Kewaskum, $98,597.

# Lomira, $59,158.

# Mayville, $86,462

# New Holstein, $90,255.

# North Fond du Lac, $91,000.

# Oakfield, $29,579.

# Ripon, $98,597.

# Rosendale-Brandon, $45,506.

# Waupun, $153,964.

In addition, the Department of Education released guidance for states to access the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund, which will help states prevent cuts to education spending.

"Wisconsin's financially strapped school districts will begin to see some relief with this first phase of funding, which will help provide services to low-income students, cover the rising costs of educating students with disabilities, implement innovative reforms in our schools, and increase professional development opportunities for teachers," Feingold said.

He pointed out that 371 school districts in Wisconsin will receive stimulus funding from Title I grants.

Both the Title I and IDEA grants will be distributed to the State of Wisconsin, which will in turn allocate funding to individual school districts through federal formula.

Title I and IDEA grants can be used by school districts for a variety of purposes, including expanding early childhood opportunities for eligible students, implementing new math and reading programs to improve literacy and math skills among low-income students, expanding learning time for students outside of the traditional school day, and developing professional development programs to help train teachers who work with students with special needs.