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Fort Leavenworth schools found out Sept. 30 they may not have to pay more than $700,000 for a discrepancy over military impact aid.
In July, Unified School District 207 was notified that the U.S. Department of Education had overpaid the district $710,249.19 for the fiscal year 2010. The funding is determined by and distributed by the U.S. Department of Education, said William Heinen, chief financial officer for USD 207.
The local school district planned for an appeal utilizing the U.S. Department of Education’s internal justice system, but was notified last week that the federal government will work with the district to find the source of the problem and a solution.
On Nov. 6, 2009, the Fort Leavenworth school district received a full voucher for $5,283,985.91. They receive about $4,500 for each military child who lives on post, called category “A.” For each child who attends the fort schools but lives off post, the Fort Leavenworth school district receives less money, called category “B.” Heinen said it takes about five category “B” students to equal the same amount of funding as a category “A” student.
However, when military installations are renovating housing, as Fort Leavenworth and its partners have been doing with the Residential Communities Initiative for the past five years, the school district gets full credit for students who cannot live on post because of construction.
Heinen believes the discrepancy happened when the federal government transferred 125 students from category A to category B — which would be incorrect because of construction going on at that time.
In a letter to the U.S. Department of Education, Superintendent Keith Mispagel wrote that a reduction in impact aid would not only disrupt the current budget, but future budgets as well.
“The Fort Leavenworth school district is a heavily impacted, coterminous school district located on the federal reservation host to the U.S. Army and the U.S. Penitentiary Service,” Mispagel wrote. “As a result of our status as a heavily impacted school district, the student count on the FY 09 Application not only affects our (2010) payment but also our (future) payments.”
At its Sept. 27 board meeting, Fort Leavenworth School board members discussed upgrading learning spaces using a $2.5 million grant from the Department of Defense Educational Activity Partnership. The planetarium at Bradley Elementary School will get a new digital projector. At five years old, the screen and infrastructure for the facility work well, but the grant will allow more interactive use for students. Technology director Al Landever said the updated capability would allow children to lead presentations and use touch screen technology. Additionally, the regular Bradley Elementary auditorium will be upgraded next year as part of the technology grant. Bids have not been let for the projects.
Also at the Sept. 27 board meeting, principals presented board members with plans for improvement at each school. Based on the schools’ Adequate Yearly Progress data, assessment testing required under the “No Child Left Behind” law, students are performing better than their peers across the state at Fort Leavenworth schools. Percentages of students who met or exceeded the standard in math and reading were in the 90s in almost every category last year. At Bradley Elementary School, 100 percent of all third graders met or exceeded the standard in math. The lowest percentage was math for Eisenhower Elementary School fourth-graders, where 87.7 percent of the students met or exceeded the standards.
Fort Leavenworth schools found out Sept. 30 they may not have to pay more than $700,000 for a discrepancy over military impact aid.
In July, Unified School District 207 was notified that the U.S. Department of Education had overpaid the district $710,249.19 for the fiscal year 2010. The funding is determined by and distributed by the U.S. Department of Education, said William Heinen, chief financial officer for USD 207.
The local school district planned for an appeal utilizing the U.S. Department of Education’s internal justice system, but was notified last week that the federal government will work with the district to find the source of the problem and a solution.
On Nov. 6, 2009, the Fort Leavenworth school district received a full voucher for $5,283,985.91. They receive about $4,500 for each military child who lives on post, called category “A.” For each child who attends the fort schools but lives off post, the Fort Leavenworth school district receives less money, called category “B.” Heinen said it takes about five category “B” students to equal the same amount of funding as a category “A” student.
However, when military installations are renovating housing, as Fort Leavenworth and its partners have been doing with the Residential Communities Initiative for the past five years, the school district gets full credit for students who cannot live on post because of construction.
Heinen believes the discrepancy happened when the federal government transferred 125 students from category A to category B — which would be incorrect because of construction going on at that time.
In a letter to the U.S. Department of Education, Superintendent Keith Mispagel wrote that a reduction in impact aid would not only disrupt the current budget, but future budgets as well.
“The Fort Leavenworth school district is a heavily impacted, coterminous school district located on the federal reservation host to the U.S. Army and the U.S. Penitentiary Service,” Mispagel wrote. “As a result of our status as a heavily impacted school district, the student count on the FY 09 Application not only affects our (2010) payment but also our (future) payments.”
At its Sept. 27 board meeting, Fort Leavenworth School board members discussed upgrading learning spaces using a $2.5 million grant from the Department of Defense Educational Activity Partnership. The planetarium at Bradley Elementary School will get a new digital projector. At five years old, the screen and infrastructure for the facility work well, but the grant will allow more interactive use for students. Technology director Al Landever said the updated capability would allow children to lead presentations and use touch screen technology. Additionally, the regular Bradley Elementary auditorium will be upgraded next year as part of the technology grant. Bids have not been let for the projects.
Also at the Sept. 27 board meeting, principals presented board members with plans for improvement at each school. Based on the schools’ Adequate Yearly Progress data, assessment testing required under the “No Child Left Behind” law, students are performing better than their peers across the state at Fort Leavenworth schools. Percentages of students who met or exceeded the standard in math and reading were in the 90s in almost every category last year. At Bradley Elementary School, 100 percent of all third graders met or exceeded the standard in math. The lowest percentage was math for Eisenhower Elementary School fourth-graders, where 87.7 percent of the students met or exceeded the standards.
