FROM THE NEWSROOM: Kevin Farr, the Superintendent of the Killingly School District, says that without the additional Alliance District grant funding the town was recently awarded by the state, the Killingly school system would not be able to offer full-day Kindergarten this year. The program rolled out last Wednesday with the first day of school. As reported, Killingly – one of the 30 schools designated as those that struggle most with the achievement gap – will receive a boost of more than $100,000 to its Alliance Grant funding. That state funding now totals $625,621 for the current school year. Farr notes that while the funding helps pay for the full day kindergarten, the program will eventually need to be funded by the district. “It was very exciting that we were able to bring in full day kindergarten,... and since this is a grant, we will have to internalize that into the regular budget over a period of years in order to make it sustainable,” said Farr. “We will also have a myriad of after-school and summer types of student enrichment [programs] and extra help that will be offered as well,” he added. Alliance Grants are specifically designed for and awarded to school districts that need assistance in closing the achievement gap and are identified as “high need” districts. The money is meant to help local schools create “locally developed strategies” and turnaround plans. Farr says that right now the money is needed in Killingly, but he looks forward to the day that Killingly no longer needs to make use of specialized tax dollars for under-performing schools. Tune in for the full report.
Posted on: Tue, 02 Sep 2014 11:58:29 +0000
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