9486 in the collection
LISD magnet schools lose funding
This is the federal update of that old adage a day late and a dollar short: Two minutes late and $12 million short.
By Dayna Worchel
A grant application that had been submitted by the Longview Independent School District for programs at the magnet schools was rejected by the federal government in April for being two minutes late, said Jennifer Scott, assistant superintendent of administrative and pupil services.
Although Scott did not immediately know the amount of the grant for the 2007-2010 period, she said at a board meeting in April that the amount of the three-year grant could be up to $12 million, or $4 million per year.
"We were devastated by what happened, and it should not have happened," Scott said.
But she added, "The district is fully capable of carrying on with the magnet school program."
Scott said the grant application was submitted three times April 27 during the course of the day.
Much of the information had been collected before applying for the grant, which must be done electronically via computer, but "you don't know what other information the government may ask for" until the submit button is clicked and another page comes up.
After the first submission, a message came back saying there were errors that needed to be corrected. When Scott tried to go into the document to make corrections, she found that all of the grant forms had been erased.
"This happened twice, and I don't know why," Scott said.
On the third submission try, the date stamp was 4:32 p.m., two minutes past the deadline of 4:30 p.m. The grant application was rejected at that point, Scott said.
She said the district immediately called and got a case number and wrote an appeal. The appeal was denied three weeks later, which was the middle of May.
"We wanted to go further in the appeal, but were told we could not go any further," Scott said.
Scott said the district contacted U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, to intervene on its behalf.
"By the time Sen. Hutchison's office got back to us, it was already the middle of June," Scott said.
"Sen. Hutchison wrote a letter of support for Longview ISD's grant application and was disappointed to learn about the denial of their application," said Geoff Embler, the senator's press secretary.
"We have no choice but to go forward and pursue other types of funding," Scott said.
Scott, who described the application process as "daunting," said Superintendent James Wilcox has been supportive and was kept informed throughout the application process. Wilcox said the district's magnet school program is definitely worth keeping in place.
In fact, one requirement of getting approval for the grant is the ability for the district to demonstrate that the existence of its magnet program was not dependent on federal grant money.
The district received a $6.9 million grant for the 2004-2007 period.
Scott added that is not a requirement of Montessori schools to have Montessori-trained teachers, such as the one at G.K. Foster Elementary School.
"Most of the Montessori training can be done by the staff already in place at G.K. Foster," she said.
But teachers will not be able to get the outside training that had been provided by the Southwestern Montessori Center of Denton. In April, 22 teachers at G.K. Foster received their Montessori certifications from the center.
"Most of that knowledge is inside the hearts and minds of the teachers, and it is not dependent on such tangibles as specific teaching materials," Scott said.
— Dayna Worchel
News-Journal
2007-07-18
INDEX OF OUTRAGES
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