About $48 million in federal stimulus money will flow to Denver Public Schools over the next two years, which means more summer classes for some students this year and more training for teachers.
DPS is receiving the largest share of federal stimulus money of any Colorado school district — a portion of $53 billion being funneled from Washington.
How DPS spends its stimulus money will be scrutinized and probably will be a factor in whether Colorado will get a share of the extra $5 billion in Race to the Top funds being offered to states that make the best use of stimulus money.
Superintendent Tom Boasberg said he talked with U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan about the stimulus money, trying to align Denver’s spending with priorities being pushed by the White House.
“We want to position ourselves to get additional money that comes available,” he said.
On Monday, Boasberg and district administrators told Denver’s school board how they intend to spend the money, which is targeted for kids in poverty and kids with special needs.
The district will get $18 million each year for its Title I program for kids in poverty. Two-thirds of DPS students are eligible for federal meal benefits — a measure of poverty; 106 school programs will receive funds.
Here’s how the district plans to spend the bulk of that money:
• $14.4 million will be spent over two years on classroom interventions for struggling learners, including adding sixth-grade summer academies for students entering Title 1 middle schools, credit-recovery for high school students, and instruction for teachers on how to help English- language learners.
• $5.4 million will be spent over two years on teacher training.
• $2.3 million will be spent on improving the district’s data gathering and assessments, and $1.5 million will pay for improving community engagement.
The district also will receive $16 million in Title VI funds for kids with disabilities over the next two years. More than 12 percent of DPS’s 75,269 students have disabilities.
Here’s how the district plans to spend the bulk of that money:
• $4.5 million for programs to close the achievement gap between students with disabilities and their peers.
• $3.7 million to establish more inclusive opportunities for students with disabilities to participate in general education classrooms, particularly at the secondary level.
• $3.5 million in training for people who work with students with disabilities.
Boasberg expects the stimulus money to arrive soon and, “We are sitting down and talking to principals, refining these priorities.”
