TITLE I FUNDS SCRUTINY URGED; FRANKLIN PARENTS SEEK INPUT ON FEDERAL FUNDS

Parents opposed to the Cape Girardeau Board of Education's decision to adjust boundaries between Franklin and Blanchard elementary schools have dropped the argument for now.

However, they want to make sure school officials include them in the development of any educational plans created to spend federal money gained at Franklin because of the boundary adjustments.

"Now that the decision has been made, one focus needs to be on making it work fabulously," said Martha Zlokovich, who is among parents who have addressed the school board regarding options to the boundary changes. "The second focus needs to be looking towards redistricting in the next two to three years."

School officials said the boundary adjustments were needed primarily to balance classroom sizes and building usage between Blanchard, where the enrollment is larger than projections indicated, and Franklin, which is being under used.

Other issues also were considered before making the boundary changes, including minority and low-income enrollments, transportation and neighborhood school issues, at both buildings.

"These were secondary ripples that were looked at once we realized the decision needed to be made," said assistant superintendent Cathy Evans. "Nothing crossed our minds for making those boundary changes except the projections were off," she said.

Some parents have questioned that point.

"On one hand school officials are saying the decision was made to make class sizes more equitable, but on the other hand they're saying they don't want the enrollment to violate federal minority enrollment guidelines, and that the boundary change will increase Franklin's low-income enrollment and qualify it for more Title 1 money," said Zlokovich. "That doesn't sound as if they're not considering racial make-up or low-income enrollment to me."

Title I is a federal early-intervention program that provides funding to districts and individual school buildings that have high participation in the federal Free and Reduced Lunch Program. The program's enrollment is often used as a measure of a school district's low-income and at-risk populations.

Only three of five Cape Girardeau schools receive Title 1 funding. Blanchard, Jefferson and Franklin schools all meet federal guidelines with FRLP enrollments of 76 percent, 52 percent and 47 percent, respectively.

Because Franklin's participation is lower than 50 percent, the building receives the smallest amount of funding and can only use that funding in designated classrooms in programs that specifically target low-income students.

But the boundary change likely will qualify Franklin to use its Title I and other federal funding with more flexibility and in a way that benefits more students.

Blanchard and Jefferson schools already have spending flexibility because they are designated as schoolwide Title I buildings.

"When a building has a schoolwide designation, it can use funds from Title 1 or any federal programs to address the needs that you've set out in your educational plan," said Shawn Cockrum, director of the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's federal grants management section.

Cockrum said the school district will not receive more funding if Franklin qualifies for schoolwide spending because Title 1 funding is distributed based on district FRLP percentages.

"School districts have to give higher concentrates of the money to the building with most need, then serve them in the order that their free and reduced rate is," he said. "It doesn't give the district any more money, it just gives them more flexibility in how they use it."

Federal and state officials require districts to develop educational plans one year before Title I funding is allocated. Evans said DESE officials are working with the district to have that plan in place before January so Franklin can receive a larger allocation next year.

Franklin parent H. Hamner Hill said school officials should ensure the plan is developed to affect the most students the most significantly and should emphasize how the additional funding specifically improves instruction and education.

"The only advantage I've heard is they keep saying more money will be coming to Franklin," he said. "I don't know that it's necessarily a bad thing, but I don't know that it's necessarily a good thing, either."

Zlokovich said school officials should plan to include parents and teachers in the development of the educational plan.

"A lot of what materials on the subject say about Title 1 is that stakeholders should be involved, and the stakeholders include parents and teachers," she said. "I don't see how it can work if it's only implemented from the top down."