Federal Funding

Title I, Part A ARRA funds may be used for components of a community-school model in a school operating a school-wide program. For example, if funds are not reasonably available from other public or private sources and the LEA has engaged in a comprehensive needs assessment, Title I, Part A ARRA funds might be used to hire a coordinator to facilitate the delivery of health, nutrition, and social services to the school’s students in partnership with local service providers. Title I, Part A ARRA funds also might be used for (1) professional development necessary to assist teachers, pupil services personnel, other staff, and parents in identifying and meeting the comprehensive needs of students, and (2) as a last resort when funds are not reasonably available from other public or private sources, the provision of basic medical equipment, such as eyeglasses and hearing aids. Additionally, Title I, Part A ARRA funds might be used to fund a family literacy program for parents who need to improve their literacy skills in order to support their children’s learning if the LEA has exhausted all other reasonably available sources of funding for those activities. (ESEA section 1118(e)(7).)

Social-emotional and community-oriented services that may be offered to students in a school implementing a turnaround model may include, but are not limited to: (a) safety programs; (b) community stability programs that reduce the mobility rate of students in the school; or (c) family and community engagement programs that support a range of activities designed to build the capacity of parents and school staff to work together to improve student academic achievement, such as a family literacy program for parents who need to improve their literacy skills in order to support their children’s learning.

If funds are not reasonably available from other public or private sources to support the planning and implementation of the services and the LEA has engaged in a comprehensive needs assessment, SIG funds might be used to hire a coordinator or to contract with an organization to facilitate the delivery of health, nutrition, and social services to the school’s students in partnership with local service providers. SIG funds also might be used for (1) professional development necessary to assist teachers, pupil services personnel, other staff, and parents in identifying and meeting the comprehensive needs of students, and (2) as a last resort when funds are not reasonably available from other public or private sources, the provision of basic medical equipment, such as eyeglasses and hearing aids. An LEA should examine the needs of students in the turnaround school to determine which social emotional and community-oriented services will be appropriate and useful under the circumstances. Further, like all other activities supported with SIG funds, any services provided must address the needs identified by the needs assessment the LEA conducted prior to selecting the turnaround model for the school and must be reasonable and necessary. (See I-30.) (Modified for FY 2010 Guidance)