Hopkins School District #270

09/14/2010

Question

How much funding will Hopkins Public Schools receive from the federal Education Jobs Fund we've been hearing about, and how will it be spent?

Answer

We have had numerous discussions with the Minnesota Department of Education about how much funding we will receive from those new federal dollars, and also the guidelines for how that funding can be spent.

Our best information at this time indicates that, based on our current student enrollment, Hopkins Public Schools will receive approximately $1.3 million. Because this is a one-time allocation, school districts have been advised to be careful to use it in ways that they can sustain over time after the new funding is gone.

After careful consideration of how to get maximum classroom benefit from this funding, we have decided to allocate $913,000 for 2010-11 "targeted staffing"—i.e., additional teachers and paraprofessional classroom support at elementary grade levels and in secondary courses where enrollments are higher than expected or where scheduling anomalies have created unusually large class sizes.

Each year we maintain a "targeted staffing" account, and using Jobs Fund dollars for this purpose this year will enable us to shift that same amount from this year's budget into next year's budget, ensuring that we have funding to address class-size issues next year as well. The remaining amount, approximately $400,000 will be put toward other classroom support positions.

With funding from the State continuing to be uncertain, particularly in light of the State's ongoing budget crisis, we believe that using the new federal dollars for resolving class-size issues this year—and shifting previously allocated dollars of our own into next year—will actually extend the benefits of the new funding over two years rather than one, while also helping us address class-size needs at all levels.