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Natchez public schools get $2 million in grants
Published Wednesday, October 21, 2009
NATCHEZ — The Natchez-Adams School District, along with the City of Natchez, has received approximately $2 million in grant funding for the 2009-2010 school year.
The grant monies will be used in the areas of school security, a 21st Century Community Learning Center and Pre-GED class supplies.
The largest grant — The 21st Century Community Learning Centers Grant Award — was approved by the Mississippi Department of Education on Sept. 9, and will supply the county with $1,800,288 during the next five years.
The grant defines the CCLC as “a community-learning center that offers academic, artistic and cultural enrichment opportunities to students and their families when school is not in session (before school, after school and/or summer recess.)”
The centers will be located at McLaurin, Morgantown and Central Alternative schools and will provide tutoring and mentoring, hands on science or technology programs and music, sports and cultural activities to students.
The centers will operate as an extended day, after school or summer programs.
The school district will be responsible for matching approximately one-third of the grant in kind from fiscal years 2012 to 2014.
NASD Grant Writer Ernest Palmer said since the grant could be paid off in kind, the services the schools already offered students could be factored into the match if the schools decided to follow that course of action.
“Our funding source on this is the Mississippi Department of Education, and they would have guidelines on (what is considered ‘in kind,’)” Palmer said.
In 2010 and 2011, the county will receive 100 percent funding from the grant — $473,760 — to be used to get the programs started on the three campuses.
Starting in the third year of funding, the grant will begin to taper off covering 80 percent of the annual allowance.
The grant will continue to cut back on funds during 2013 and 2014 as the schools are expected to have stable programs in place.
The second largest grant awarded to the district is also shared by the Natchez Police Department.
The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services’ COPS — Secure Our Schools program has granted the NPD and the school district a total of $88,863 to be used over a two-year period.
“The money will go toward security cameras to complete our campus surveillance system, a monitoring system for that surveillance system and walk through metal detectors to improve security at the buildings,” Palmer said. “Another portion of the grant goes toward updating the schools’ safety guides.”
While the NPD applied for the grant, it was decided that the 50 percent local cash match over the two-year grant period would be paid by the school district.
The NPD and NASD received the most money out of the three Mississippi recipients selected by the COPS program.
The final grant received by the NASD is one that will focus on the GED program offered at Central Alternative School.
The Dollar General Literacy Foundation awarded a $3,000 grant that will be used “to provide supplemental financial assistance toward the purchase of pre-GED materials for students attending Central Alternative School enrolled in the GED program.”
Palmer said while the grant ends May 19, the books and study materials purchased with the grant money will be long lasting.
Comments
Posted by ntz143 (anonymous) on October 21, 2009 at 12:50 a.m. (Suggest removal)
sure hope that the learning center grant doesn't turn out to be the mishandled mess the Carol M. White grant was.
Posted by speakup (anonymous) on October 21, 2009 at 2:49 a.m. (Suggest removal)
what mess was that?
Posted by grungebob (anonymous) on October 21, 2009 at 8:02 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Very illuminationg. I assumed all classes up to dropping out of school was pre-GED.
Posted by Crakalakin (anonymous) on October 21, 2009 at 8:16 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The CCLC is going to be a boondoggle. "Learning Centers"? Please, if they can't learn during the days of the school year, I'm pretty sure after school and summer "cultural enrichment" is not going to accomplish a thing. Another million dollars of taxpayer money wasted.
Why don't these people just hand their kids over to the state and be done with it? All this grant is for is to relieve the "economically challenged" from the burden of actually parenting the children they have.
Posted by chuckydaone (anonymous) on October 21, 2009 at 9:02 a.m. (Suggest removal)
More years ago than I care to remember, my parents placed me in a summer enrichment program for reading. I have no regrets. If you look at education systems around the world, you will find that we have a short school year. While our children are out at theme parks and having fun in general, children around the world are in school. Perhaps that is why the math scores in Singapore are off the charts compared to ours. Having them in school might even address the "having nothing to do so they get in trouble" syndrom.
Posted by mrmojorisin (anonymous) on October 21, 2009 at 9:10 a.m. (Suggest removal)
WATCH where the administrative costs go with this grant money, and where the actual CCCL money goes.
This is why the School Board and our un-esteemed (doctor) Morris have downplayed, disrupted, and basically dumped the Boys and Girls Club of the MissLou...why (doctor) Morris has had nothing but jealousy and spite for the director and the accomplishments garnered by the Club. The B&G Club has been the beneficiary of 21st Century grants in the past and (doctor) Morris has coveted the money.
ND, stay on this one....make Morris and Edney come clean on what and to whom the administrative fees associated with this grant will be spent. It has been my experience with their grant money, that as high as 80% goes to them in admin. costs and 20% to the actual grant goal applied, and no one is served but the politicians.......maybe we can find a way to get rid of them............since the mayor and BOA seem to think their kind of school system is acceptable.
--mojo
Posted by Krogers (anonymous) on October 21, 2009 at 9:28 a.m. (Suggest removal)
sounds like more free after-school baby-sitting programs.....
gonna put the private day-care businesses OUT of business
this is great for the economy and family small business ( sarcasm)
more wasted tax dollars....
well maybe chuckydaone has a point there , if students will actually have a care and study...
Posted by Crakalakin (anonymous) on October 21, 2009 at 1:40 p.m. (Suggest removal)
American students spend more hours in school that anywhere else in the world. True that our school year is below the world average but for instructional hours in a classroom, we are at the very top.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/arti...
What does that mean? That means that you cannot fix failure by adding 3 more months of failure. Our students have more class time than any in the world and still perform poorly. Adding school days is a waste of money. As Krogers said, it is a state-run, taxpayer funded babysitting service. Pretty much what school has become anyway, surrogate parenting with a social agenda. No wonder our kids can't compete in math and science. They are too busy being fed PC nonsense.
It does not take a genius to look at those stats and clearly see that we are wasting our class time and with it our kid's futures, America's future and our tax dollars. For what? Lessons on "cultural diversity" and "esteem building"?
Dump that garbage or churn out the world's idiots forever.
Posted by NatTaylor (anonymous) on October 21, 2009 at 8:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I have say that I am 50/50 on this one. I think the money going to beef up security is well spent and will probably be handled correctly. The educational centers however I am lessed then pleased with. That money could really be helpful if it was maybe used to fix some of the rundown, falling down buildings in some of the schools. It could also be used for computers, new books, maybe so enrichment programs during the school hours instead of after hours babysitting services. Also why didnt the taxpayers get a vote on this? I would have liked to have had a say in this before the money was allocated for sure. Morris and his buds in the school system need to be run out on a rail! The Natchez school system could be top notch in we ran the greedy politcs out and put the parents back in control where we should be!
Posted by stateofnatchez (anonymous) on October 22, 2009 at 3:25 a.m. (Suggest removal)
What a total and complete waste of $2,000,000 plus additional loans, associated taxes, etc....
--Security because of a flawed juvenile justice system
--After hour education center because our teachers can't get the job done or maybe the thugs juss don't wanna get up that early.
--And supplies for our exclusive "hand-holding" pre-GED program.
Hmmmmmm.....wonder what happened to the ole NASD in the last 20 years (post-1989 that is!!)
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