TROY — The Troy Board of Education met Monday, July 11 for their regular monthly meeting.
The meeting began with a moment of silence for Jacob Fitzgerald, age 32, who recently passed away. Fitzgerald previously taught third grade a Concord Elementary School for six years.
Following that, Dr. Michael Moore, the director of curriculum and instruction, gave a presentation on the application for and use of the district’s federal funding.
The funds available to the district vary on a yearly basis.
“There is an online application system. They open it up, but they don’t always tell us how much the funds are… We have an idea, based on historical trends, of what those funds are going to be. But we don’t always know what changes can occur in a year,” said Moore.
Generally, the district receives around $2.1 million in federal funds to support a variety of programs, such as Title programs, at its’ schools.
“So, in Title I, we use that to fill in staffing for reading intervention at our buildings… that have a high enough percentage of students who meet poverty level that we receive additional funds for the whole building,” said Moore.
These buildings are Cookson, Forest, Heywood, and Kyle Elementary. Concord and Hook Elementary also have reading intervention specialists, they are just not federally funded.
Other federal funding allocations include:
• Title I-D: for educating students at West Central Juvenile Detention Center
• Title I-SSI: for sustainable school improvement activities
• Title II-A: for class size reduction and professional development
• Title III LEP: for supporting students learning English
• Title III Immigrant: for increasing English proficiency and other uses based on need
• Title IV-A: for the purchase of services and technology and teacher professional development
• IDEA-B: for services and supplies for students identified with disabilities
• ESCE: for early childhood education services in consortium with Miami County ESC
• EOEC: for tools that support personalized learning for low-achieving students
In recent years, additional funding, known as ESSER (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief), has been available through the CARES Act as part of a federal government initiative to address the economic impact of COVID on school districts.
“We have received, in our first round of CARES Act funds, $555,838.64. We have used that for a lot of technology, to help support things that came around with COVID, fund some of our initiatives, and respond to the pandemic,” said Dr. Moore.
These funds have a limited window in which they can be spent. The second round of ESSER funds closes at the end of September 2022. The third-round closes at the end of September 2023.
“As for ESSER two, that dollar amount is $2,189, 590.91. And through the American Rescue Plan, we call that the third round of ESSER funds, is $4,921,020.93,” said Dr. Moore.
Those funds have been used to pay for Troy’s online academy teachers, support the one-to-one Chromebook initiative, pay for online tools such as Canvas, Screencastify, Kami, and other online tools. Funds were also used to upgrade the HVAC system at Troy Junior High School.
The application for 2022-2023 federal funds was submitted on June 30. It will need to undergo multiple rounds of verification, peer review, and approval before dollar amounts will be finalized.
The Board, by a vote of 3-0, approved donations made to the school totaling $4,775.57. A donation of $2,820 from the Troy Rotary Club prompted a discussion about the burgeoning eSports club at Troy High School.
“We’ve had upwards of 90 students,” said High School Principal Dave Dilbone, “Last year, they went to a competition and won unexpectedly in their first year. And so, students won scholarships for that.”
Also approved was the 2022-2023 Student Handbook and Code of Conduct which outlined changes to the attendance guidelines including switching from days missed to hours and redefining what constitutes a medically absent excuse.
The Board also adopted the 2022-2023 Student Fee Schedule. Changes to fees were limited.
“We try to stay pretty flat here every year,” said Treasurer Jeff Price on student fees.
The Board then adjourned to executive session and no further action was taken.
Board members Michael Ham and Theresa Packard were absent from Monday’s meeting.
The next Troy Board of Education meeting will take place on Aug. 8 at 5:30 p.m. in the Troy Board of Education office.
