Grants supplement school funding

MAT-SU -- Approximately $20 million in grant money is used in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District each year. While this money helps offset some of the costs of doing business in schools, each grant comes with strict guidelines and stipulations on what the money can be used for.

"There are certain targets [the grants must meet], but we have some flexibility to meet them," said Loraine Domke, the district's director of federal programs.

The district receives two type of grants in addition to the funding it receives based on student enrollment: entitlement grants and competitive grants. One of the most familiar entitlement grants is the Title 1 program, which provides extra money for schools that have a high percentage of students living in poverty. Other entitlement grants include money for professional development for teachers in order to meet No Child Left Behind requirements, and safe and drug-free school grants that fund programs such as suicide and violence prevention. These grants are based on the demographics of the district, and the district must keep records to prove the money provided to the district is used specifically for the grant, along with proof that the programs are working.

Competitive grants are similar to any grants that a business or government would apply for. Teachers, staff and the federal programs department work together to write out grant proposals used to fund specific programs within schools, such as the Dzuuggi Preschool program, which assists Alaska Native and American Indian families with children birth to 5-years-old in order to ensure future success in school.

Grants are administered either through the state Department of Education or the federal government, and it would be illegal to use the money to fund other aspects of education, such as moving funding slated for the preschool program to offset costs associated with start times for high school and middle school students.

"There's a lot of strings attached to this money," Domke said. "As soon as you are out of compliance, the money is taken away."

Many of the programs funded by grants, however, are faced with funding issues once the grant money runs out.

"A lot of grants are start-up programs," Domke said.

One such program is the Ready To Learn PBS program at Sherrod Elementary School. Rene Martinez is the family involvement specialist at Sherrod, and her position will no longer exist in June when the federal Reading Excellence Act grant that funds the program runs out.

"The grant targets rural areas," Martinez said. "I just try to put together events to bring families into the school and get parents involved."

Martinez has brought PBS into the school to teach parents about what TV programs are suitable for children. The one-hour program includes free books for the families throughout the following year. Sherrod has had family gym nights, family computer nights and many other programs that bring parents inside the school walls made possible by the grant. The end of the three-year grant is also the end of the program. Faced with budget windfalls the district cannot afford to pay for the program out-of-pocket.