ESCs, Districts, Charters To Receive Straight A Funds The Straight A Fund Governing Board voted Friday to approve 37 applications for about $144 million in the grant programs second round. The proposals ranged from building self-sustaining data cultures and blended learning to reading programs and college reading initiatives to Growing Soil outdoor labs. Eight of the projects have an educational service center as a lead applicant. Recent legislation (HB 342) changed the Straight A Fund rules to allow those regional centers to serve in such a role. The winners were among 339 original applicants for funding in round two of the program, which sought more than $761 million in grants. I saw the focus of student achievement, I saw collaboration and I saw cost savings, Superintendent of Public Instruction Dick Ross said of the applicants. Its a really great positive move, I think, that the legislature made to give us that perspective and allow us to stretch the dollars and make more of an impact on boys and girls. Board member James Barnard Jr. noted the board started the meeting with $171 million in requests that had an expected savings for districts and entities of $254 billion. He said that represents about an 8.3% return on investment over five years. When we talk about driving student achievement and balancing it with cost efficiencies...I think thats a very good start, he said. Information on the proposal applicants was redacted to avoid board member bias when choosing which to fund. Members on Friday came to a consensus on approval of eight out of 14 applicants with scores below a 4.0 they had reviewed during the week. Four proposals that had received votes of support from board members did not receive awards because their funding requests went beyond what money remained to be doled out. The board earlier in the week had agreed to allow 28 projects through without further review because of scores of 4.0 or higher from the reviewers who graded them on programmatic quality. Those projects represent more than $137 million of the about $144 million available in fiscal year 2015 for the awards. (See Gongwer Ohio Report, June 16, 2014) Two of the projects, totaling $1.6 million, that were part of the 28 required additional work between the state and the applicants because they had previously been found unsustainable financially in an earlier round of scoring. They had been hand-picked by board members, however, to stay in the running because they had found them particularly innovative. (See Gongwer Ohio Report, May 27, 2014) The board voted to issue an edit decision to approve funding for the two projects subject to staff negotiations to bring them into compliance on cost savings. Sen. Peggy Lehner (R-Kettering) expressed some concern that the motion might overrule legislative requirements for sustainability, which she said would require substantial changes to the proposals. She voted against approving the applicants for funding, saying she does not find them to be knockout proposals. Member John Scheu meanwhile said the other 14 projects that came shy of a 4.0 are excellent proposals and approving the two unsustainable ones would take away what is available to the 14. He along with Mr. Barnard also voted against approving those projects. Rep. Andy Brenner (R-Powell) said he was comfortable with approving them because if they do not come into compliance with the cost savings ratio requirements, theyre out and the funding can be passed to a runner up. The Straight A Fund grants were created in the last budget bill (HB 59) to provide two rounds of money over the two years of the biennium. Under the law, any projects that are approved must work to raise student achievement, reduce spending or target a greater share of resources to the classroom. Each application was required to include a description of the project, explanation of how it would be self-sustaining and a description of quantifiable results. The grants are contingent on Controlling Board approval, which is expected to occur at the next meeting July 28. gongwer-oh/public/130/straighta6-20.pdf
Posted on: Fri, 20 Jun 2014 23:15:29 +0000
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