Craven schools get nearly $9.7 million in stimulus funds

RALEIGH — Over the next two years, $1.3 billion will be flowing into North Carolina’s public schools courtesy of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

The ARRA, better known as the federal stimulus bill, has allocated approximately $753 million in bunds to stabilize the public schools budget and save jobs for teachers, assistants and custodians.

In addition, $247 million will go to what are known as Title I schools, or schools which have a significant number of children from low-income families attending. And another $314 million in stimulus funds will end up in public schools to help children with handicaps as part of the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) program.

How many jobs will the federal dollars save or create? The state Department of Public Instruction isn’t sure since local school systems are just been receiving their allocations over the past few months and they have some flexibility in how the money is spent.

“It’s going to be thousands of jobs that are going to be saved,” said Paul LeSieur, director of school business services for the N.C. Department of Public Instruction.

“These funds are just starting to be used,” LeSieur said. “We’ll get a better feeling over time of what position types they’ll use for these dollars.”

Thus far, the Craven County Schools have been allocated nearly $9.7 million in stimulus funds, including $3.8 million in budget stabilization funds, $2.5 million in Title I funds and $3.2 million in IDEA funds.

The Pamlico County Schools have been allocated $975,246 in stimulus funds, including $377,913 in budget stabilization funds, $258,416 in Title I funds and $311,212 in IDEA funds. Charter schools, including Arapahoe ($186,360) also receive stimulus allotments.

The Jones County Schools have been allocated $961,459 in stimulus funds, including $411,772 in budget stabilization money, $233,045 in Title I funds and $277,467 in IDEA funds.

The Lenoir County Schools have been allocated $6.7 million in stimulus money, including $2.4 million in budget stabilization funds, $2 million in Title I funds and $2.2 million in IDEA funds. Charter schools (Children’s Village, $141,638; and Kinston Charter Academy, $292,161) also received stimulus allocations.

The Onslow County Schools have been allocated nearly $15.3 million in federal stimulus funds, including nearly $6 million in budget stabilization funds, $4.2 million in Title I funds and $4.9 million in IDEA funds.

The Carteret County Schools have been allocated nearly $5 million in stimulus funds, including $2.2 in budget stabilization funds, nearly $1 million in Title I funds and $1.7 million in IDEA funds. Charter schools (Cape Lookout Marine $57,668; and Tiller School, $66,410) also received federal stimulus allocations.

LeSieur said that the budget stabilization funds will offset many of the cuts made by the General Assembly in the budget.

He said the Title I funds for low-income schools can be used for teachers and for supplemental programs. The IDEA money for handicapped students can go for teachers and instructional support positions, or it could be used for specialized equipment for handicapped students.

“We’ll know more in the next few months,” he said.

Barry Smith can be reached at bsmith@link.freedom.com.