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School funding delay hits 3

Low-achieving Carrabec High School continues effort for a turnaround

By Erin Rhoda erhoda@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

NORTH ANSON -- Teachers, staff and administrators across the United States have begun ambitious plans to overhaul their schools, using billions of dollars of federal stimulus money.

But three out of the now-six schools in Maine eligible for the funding, including Carrabec High School in North Anson, have yet to receive their grants because of a delay in the approval process.

As students return to classrooms, some schools are starting improvement programs, knowing they'll receive the funding approval later.

The three schools awaiting approval are Carrabec High School, Lake Region High School in Naples and Livermore Falls High School. Deer Isle-Stonington High School recently discovered it is no longer eligible.

The schools are part of the U.S. Department of Education's goal to turn around the nation's 1,000 "persistently lowest achieving schools." The designation is based on students' SAT scores between 2007 and 2009, and schools' eligibility for federal Title I funds, a program directed at low-income students.

Riverton Elementary School in Portland, Governor James B. Longley Elementary School in Lewiston and Sumner Memorial High School in Sullivan have already received grant approval. Madison Area Memorial High School, Houlton High School and Hodgdon High School chose not to apply.

The total federal funding to eventually be dispersed in Maine is now $10,681,819.

The three remaining schools will receive approval, Maine Department of Education spokesman David Connerty-Marin said. In fact, they should expect to receive it soon -- likely within the next few days.

The delay has caused some anxiety, however, among school officials, especially those who planned summer programs.

Livermore Falls High School had to cancel a transition program for eighth-graders entering high school, Superintendent Susan Pratt said.

"Obviously at this point, you don't transition kids. They're already starting (school)," she said. "This has not been a fast process." The high school anticipated receiving the funds in June.

The lag in funding approval has also caused schools in other parts of the country to delay hiring, meaning classrooms are filled with less-qualified instructors since the best candidates were available in the spring, according to an Aug. 23 New York Times article.

Carrabec High School is continuing with its turnaround plan, even though its application for $727,000 has not yet been formally approved by the federal government. It expected to receive the approval about a month ago, School Administrative District 74 Superintendent Ken Coville said.

"Some other people may have anticipated a faster track disbursement, so their expectations may have been disappointed, but right from the beginning I didn't expect it to be fast-track because that's not the experience we generally have with federal funding systems," he said.

The high school has started preliminary activities, such as a freshman orientation, and it has implemented no-cost components, such as increasing instruction time in math and language arts, altering the schedule so students spend more time in class and including preparation time for the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test, Carrabec High School Principal Regina Campbell said.

But the district is holding off on awarding any major contracts, such as to an independent agency to monitor the school's progress toward meeting the goals of the grant. The district had anticipated beginning that selection process at the end of August.

"We're trying to move forward with all the direct student activities and defer the administrative or grant process activities," Coville said.

The delay happened because the state had been working for weeks with Deer Isle-Stonington High School to finalize their application. The school recently discovered it is not eligible for the funds this year because not all of its teachers meet a "highly qualified" provision under federal law, Connerty-Marin said.

The state is now waiting for approval of a waiver request. Because some eligible schools opted not to apply for the funds, a portion of the total federal dollars would been returned to the federal government. The waiver will prevent that. It is expected to be approved soon, Connerty-Marin said.

Carrabec is slated to receive $726,800; Livermore Falls, $1,215,057; and Lake Region, $1,623,200. Riverton has received approval for $3,386,154; Governor James B. Longley, $1,999,088; Sumner, $1,731,520.

Erin Rhoda -- 474-9534

erhoda@centralmaine.com