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Will Seminole Race To The Top after all?
posted by daveweber on February, 24 2010 4:08 PM
The Seminole School Board’s on-again-off-again participation in the federal Race To The Top school reform grant program may be on again.
School Board Chairman Sandy Robinson says she has changed her mind again and will ask the board March 23 to reconsider.
That would make the fourth time the board has voted on the same issue, points out School Board member Diane Bauer, who is against participation – and the re-vote. The board turned down participation in December, approved it in mid- January, then said “no” once more in late January. Robinson was the swing vote each time.
Seminole could be in line for $9.5 million over four years if the federal government approves Florida’s request for $1.1 billion in RTTT funds. The state has asked for a quarter of all of the $4.35 billion available nationwide. States that are finalists for funding are expected to be announced in March, with winning states named in April.
But Robinson and some other board members have been concerned that the required reforms will cost more than the money provided to achieve them.
“I don’t want to take the federal money at all,” said Robinson, explaining her vacillation. “But if we are going to be penalized, I have to step back and reconsider.”
Robinson said that after listening to a Florida Department of Education webinar on RTTT this week she came away convinced that DOE is going to force districts to make the education reforms whether they sought a share of the grant money or not. That means Seminole could end up paying out of pocket no matter what.
Seminole school officials say that although the deadline for districts to decide whether they wanted to to take part has long since passed, Seminole could re-enter the program under a technicality. That’s because its name is on the list of participating school districts submitted to the federal “givernment” in Florda’s grant application. Seminole got on the list during the period of its “yes” vote last month and the application was sent in before it changed its mind.
I asked the state Department of Education for its opinion on whether Seminole can jump back in, but the agency hasn’t gotten back with an answer yet.
I also reminded Superintendent Bill Vogel that last month when the School Board voted down RTTT he had said he would never bring it up again.
“I didn’t,” he said.
“That would be me,” Robinson said.
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