News-Record.com

The school board will be busy Thursday discussing among other things, increasing the number of Title I schools in the system and initiating and increasing fees for the system’s after school program.

You can read more about all these and the other board meeting agenda items here.

But just to provide a quick overview of each;

Title I
With at large portion of federal stimulus money for schools being directed at this program to support low-performing, high poverty schools, the school board will consider lowering their percentage threshold for the number of students at each school receiving free or reduced lunches. By doing so they would increase the number of Title I schools, meaning more schools could receive the stimulus cash, which some might argue could help buffer the massive budget shortfalls expected in the 2009-10 budget.

ACES
ACES is the school system’s after school care program. Again, with the economy the way it is fewer families are enrolling and its reached a point where school officials are recommending an enrollment fee and increasing participation fees to keep it afloat.
Here’s what those look like.
Currently, approximately 4,100 students are enrolled in ACES and there are about 300 ACES staff members. The 2008-09 ACES budget of $7.9 million is funded from fees collected from parents and agencies. The 2008-09 ACES annual fee (10-Month Calendar) is $1,560 per student. The majority of parents choose to pay the annual fee through weekly payments of $40.

ACES fees recommended for 2009-10 are:
 Annual Enrollment Fee $15 per student
 ACES All-Day Activity Fee $8 per child per All-Day
 ACES Tuition Fee (10 Month Calendar) $1,794 per year - $46 per week