Stimulus savior: District 6 gets $1.87 million

Saved by the stimulus, you might say.

Columbia Falls School District 6 will be receiving $1,187,296 in allocations for special services through the American Recovery and Reinstatement Act (ARRA). That is for use in the elementary and high school districts.

In all, Montana schools were allocated about $71.58 million via ARRA. Of that, just more than $6 million goes to Flathead County public schools — about $3.54 million for special education and $2.48 million for Title I programs.

Those amounts will be added to schools' annual allocations from the Federal government. It's cautioned that the ARRA money consists of one-time-only payments, and the money must be spent over the next two school years.

District 6 will receive $608,187 in ARRA money earmarked for special education.

"We'll redirect it (the stimulus funds' to pay some costs that we currently have with our special ed program," District 6 Business Manager/Clerk Dustin Zuffelato said Tuesday. "That will allow us to free up some of what we're paying from the general fund."

Some of the money will be used for "pro development" for teachers and software programs. Zuffelato said Curriculum Director Marilyn LaSorte is developing a six-year software program geared toward student achievement.

Most of the special ed money will help fund personnel, such as 11 paraeducators. It also pays for one-fourth of Special Services Director Terri Burghardt's salary for the next two school years.

Zuffelato said the district is not hiring any new personnel, but will be able to maintain what it currently has.

"It will be a struggle in the future," he said of future funding for the programs. "We have to make sure we're looking ahead."

District 6 receives $579,109 in Title I funding from ARRA.

Some of the Title I funding will be used for teacher salaries, according to Zuffelato. Also funded will be the after-school programs at Glacier Gateway and Canyon elementary schools, the Columbia Falls High School Learning Center and the summer school program for at-risk students at the high school.

The after-school programs had been funded by miscellaneous sources.

"We feel they're great programs and we want to continue to fund them," Zuffelato said.

All the costs of the CFHS summer school program will be funded by ARRA money for the next two years.

Zuffelato added that 15 percent of the Title I money from the first year can be carried over. The district has two years to use the special education funds.

After the stimulus money is gone, special ed and Title I salaries will be paid for out of the district's general fund — so this appears to be just a "temporary fix."

"They say special education has been underfunded for so long. I don't see any permanent things happening," Zuffelato said.

It's noted that District 6 uses money from its own schools for the West Glacier and East Glacier districts.

Zuffelato said use of the ARRA money will not be finalized until the August meeting of the board of trustees — when the budget for the 2009-10 school year is set.

The next board meeting is Monday, July 20 at 7 p.m. in the District 6 administration building.