IRON MOUNTAIN - The Iron Mountain School District Board of Education has approved a memorandum of understanding to apply for a Race to the Top grant through the federal government.
If the state of Michigan is one of the grant recipients, the Iron Mountain district could receive $80,000.
But Monday's action by the board of education wasn't without a lot of discussion and questions about what possible strings were attached to accepting this money.
School Board members agreed that it would benefit the district to accept these funds, but not at the expense of having to spend a lot of money to implement more programs.
This program, a part of President Barack Obama's Recovery Act Programs, will award $4.35 billion in competitive grants to school districts. It is a national competition for states to lead the way in school reform.
Awards in Race to the Top will go to states that are "leading the way with ambitious, get achievable plans for implementing coherent, compelling and providing examples for states and school districts throughout the country to follow as they too are had at work on reforms that can transform our schools for decades to come," according to information from the U.S. Department of Education.
Four specific areas of reform include:
- Adopting standards and assessments that prepare students to succeed in college and the workplace and to compete in the global economy.
- Building data systems that measure student growth and success, and inform teachers and principals about how they can improve instruction.
- Recruiting, developing, rewarding and retaining effective teachers and principals, especially where they are needed most.
- Turning around the lowest achieving schools.
Iron Mountain Schools Supt. Scott McClure noted that the memorandum needs to be filed with the Dickinson-Iron Intermediate School District by Jan. 7, 2010.
"For the states to go after the federal money available, school districts have to 'get into the race.' We need to be a part of it to have an opportunity at these funds. The money is going to be distributed, but the question is whether Michigan will get it. In addition to the board passing the memorandum of understanding, the unions also need to look it over and decide whether they want to sign it. It's on the fast track and has to be to the ISD by Jan. 7," McClure said.
He added although there are more questions that need to be answered, he and Elementary Principal Bob Strang have attended a webinar on the subject. They will try and get more information on whether there are any requirements attached to the money that districts would have to put into place if they receive the grant funds.
"The $80,000 is the carrot hanging out there," said Board Member Bill Revord. "But do we have the ability to rescind this action and back out of it. My concern is what financial hook may be on the other end."
McClure said that he would not file the memorandum with the ISD until Jan. 6. "If something else comes out about this that we don't like, we can rescind it during a special meeting," McClure said.
Board Treasurer Steve Brooks also questioned the requirements that might come with getting these funds. "If we enter into a memorandum of understanding, what are we agreeing to do," Brooks asked.
Board Secretary Mark Pontti agreed that there were some questions the board still had but felt that the school district was in good shape. "We're not going to have any trouble achieving any of these standards," Pontti said. "We are already doing it. It's our fiduciary responsibility to apply for these funds."
McClure said he would get back to the board with any additional information he gathers about the Race to the Top grant program.
Linda Lobeck's e-mail address is llobeck@ironmountaindailynews.com.)