Past Grants: FY 04 School Priorities

To: ASF
From: Kay Donovan, Superintendent of Schools
Date: June 26, 2003

Arlington Public Schools 2004 Funding Priority List

1. Reading teachers (Elementary)

Every student, regardless of ability and aptitude, deserves a quality curriculum and no student should receive less. Reading is the first component of a quality curriculum. Students who are not proficient readers have limited access to universal education. In addition, all students are required to be highly proficient readers according to the Federal "No Child Left Behind" legislation as well as the Massachusetts Frameworks as identified in the Education Reform Act of 1993. In order to meet these standards, pace and delivery of reading instruction must be modified for different student subgroups.

Research evidences that early interventions in various remedial methodologies that respond to the individual learning styles of students are the most successful. The Arlington Public Schools have provided remedial reading as a regular education service for many years. Without reading professionals, we anticipate an increase in expensive special education evaluations and placements and degradation in the quality of our elementary curriculum.

Program Costs: 7 Reading Teachers - $250,000

2. K-12 Classroom Teachers

There is a definite need to address staff/student ratios as well as to maintain, to the extent possible, educational program breadth across the system. The classroom teacher will be the one responding to the myriad student needs that were formerly served by specialists and support staff who have been laid off due to budget cuts. Increasing classroom size and reducing program options requires the teacher to deliver this wider array of educational services to a larger number of students.

Program Costs 4 teachers - $145,000

3. Elementary Science Coordinator (Environmental, Elementary)

Understanding a "unified science" approach that emphasizes broad concepts and general skills has been the design for the Arlington Science curriculum. For the past decade, there has been an increased emphasis on understanding the world in which we live and protecting the environment. At a relatively low cost, there has been a fifth grade environmental camp and an inquiry-based curiosity encouraged process of investigating topics. Our elementary study of ecology, natural history through direct observation and investigation, a curriculum aligned with the Massachusetts Science and Technology Frameworks, has been truly successful as students work in small field study groups to solve problems as a team. This is an opportunity to maintain the improvements we've made in our elementary science curriculum, expand and apply classroom science learning and provide teacher support.

Program Costs: 1 Science Teacher - $45,000

4. School Social Workers

There is a consistent need for prevention, assessment, and intervention with students who have varying crises in their lives. The goal of the guidance department is to enhance the educational and social/emotional growth of all students. Students need to learn how to make and keep friends, work with others, accept individual differences, and be part of a community. The need to help identify and resolve individual student difficulties is a constant. Helping our students and parents deal with death, major illness, and tragic national events has become a major part of our work. The social workers create a team approach in assisting students to strengthen their self-perception, deal with family, alcohol and drug related issues, as well as acceptance of individual abilities. Without some support in the schools, many of these concerns escalate. This would restore social workers to address the needs of K-5 students.

Program Costs: 2.6 Social Workers - $75,000

5. Part time grant writer and part time gifted and talented/differentiated learning training and support.

It is vital that the Arlington Public Schools continue to seek alternate funding sources to supplement our School Operating Budget on an annual basis. The federal, state, and private grants require significant data analysis and comprehensive reporting in order for the schools to be eligible to receive the funding.

Program Costs 0.5 grant writer - $25,000

There is a constant need to teach differentiated teaching methodologies to meet the individual needs of our students. Various professional development opportunities would provide our staff with up to date research and practical skills for implementing these methodologies in the classroom.

Program Costs 0.5 teacher - $25,000