Tuesday, April 23, 2013

CMS seeking boost from grants

As the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board prepares for a public hearing on the 2013-14 budget tonight, they'll also be signing off on grant requests that could bring in millions of extra dollars.

The big-ticket requests are for government money.  A School Improvement Grant request seeks up to $6 million a year for three years to improve academic performance at Byers and Druid Hills preK-8 schools and Hawthorne High.  According to the proposal,  all three are eligible for additional federal Title I money because they've been identified as persistently low performing.  Byers and Druid Hills have already been targeted for other CMS turnaround efforts,  including strategic staffing, conversion to K-8 schools and Project LIFTHawthorne is currently an alternative school serving pregnant teens and students who have fallen behind in high school.  Superintendent Heath Morrison's budget proposal calls for converting it to a health-sciences magnet school,  with the grant money used to design the new program.

Another request seeks $1.8 million from the U.S. Department of Education to improve physical education opportunities at 30 elementary schools.

Smaller grant requests would help CMS extend digital devices and science/tech programs in schools.  Six requests to the Jimmie Johnson Foundation totaling almost $411,000 would buy iPads and otherwise improve technology at Barringer, Cornelius, Long Creek and Nations Ford elementary schools, Metro School for disabled students and Cochrane Academy,  a 6-12 school with a math-science focus.  The budget calls for creating an iMeck Academy at Cochrane,  with high school grades converting from neighborhood to magnet seats.

CMS is also seeking about $74,000 from the American Honda Foundation to create a summer STEAM camp at Piedmont Middle.

Details on the grant proposals are listed on the board agenda. Click here for details about speaking at the budget hearing  (tonight's meeting does not include public comments on other topics).

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

As usual, the lower end is covered, the others have to fend for themselves.

Wiley Coyote said...

Typical educrat approach.

According to the proposal, all three are eligible for additional federal Title I money because they've been identified as persistently low performing.

Since we have no clue what to do, let's do what we always do; throw more money at the problem......

STOP CMS BONDS NOW!

Anonymous said...

CMS cannot be trusted so as a parent and a tax payer I say NO. Look at the new man in charge not 1 year into his job and way over his head with this position. Folks its time to split the district up. Look at LIFT they already have started to do this. Keep it rolling and split the 500 square mile pie folks.

Anonymous said...

accept it, change it or leave it.

Anonymous said...

1:18,
Excellent challenge. Just like City Council and the airport.
a. Many have already accepted it.
b. It hasn't and will not change because.....
c. The parents who care and can find another way or an alternative have left.
CMS alternative........Project Left

Anonymous said...

1:18- I dont accept it. I dont want my tax funds being used that way by the Chamber/CMS crooks. I will leave it with my funds to Ft. Mill. It hurts the great state of Mecklenburg that kids cannot add correct change being graduated from High School. It simply hurts our society in general.

Anonymous said...

1:18pm Like! When my 4th grade son came home and told me he would get in trouble if he did division the way I taught him, I started thinking it's time to leave.

How many CMS employees does it take to fix a light bulb?

Anonymous said...

THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT IT IS ALL ABOUT!

This is the ONLY reason we have all this testing. It is the federal money grab by our nations school systems. Do you think we would have spent millions to create these tests and waste countless hours of instruction trying to administer these tests if it were not for the greed of the federal money?

The Board of Education and MOrrison do not care about the children or teachers. All they care about is the local, state and FEDERAL MONEY!

Anonymous said...

I'm a cms teacher and we need help!! Parents, we are not getting adequate resources to serve all the children. We are overwhelmed with too many students, old textbooks that don't match what we are required to teach, too many students that aren't on grade level because we simply can't provide one to one help with so many, and I could go on and on!! I'm surprised that parents aren't raising more of a ruckus!!! We need a grassroots effort to call attention to the distress our schools are in. Teachers are not heard. I've responded to more surveys than I can count and have written my representatives in the NCGA with no response.

IS ANYONE LISTENING? I'm so frustrated!

Anonymous said...

There is only one solution.

PROJECT LEFT


That is where all the best and brightest go on a day of leave. This is the only way the BofE, MOrrison and the state will even pay attention.

Anonymous said...

9:13,
Project Left left at 1:29 this afternoon. You must pay attention class.1:29 probably plagiarized it from an earlier poster. The groups and individuals mentioned don't care how many students and teachers leave as long as the gravy train and enough TFA's continue.

Anonymous said...

6:20 I am a concerned and frustrated parent. From my perspective, one teacher trying to accommodate 28 different learning styles, etc.. is a waste of the student's and teacher's time. Why not go back to what they used to do, put the top achievers in one class with one teacher, put the mid and lower level students in a class with 2-3 teachers. I imagine it would be a more efficient, effective use of everyone's time and ultimately benefit the students. Also, my opinion, not enough time is being spent on the basics. The students need MORE repetition on basic skills, not fewer multi step problems. Cart before the horse?

Anonymous said...

PROJECT LEFT ?

Who is with us?!!?

I would steer you to the Facebook site, but the CMS nazis patrol this to fire anyone with negative CMS comments. More information to come!