City schools to address fund pooling

By Denise Dick

By DENISE DICK

denise_dick@vindy.com

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The city school district must develop a plan for pooling local, state and federal dollars.

That request came from the schools’ Financial Planning and Supervision Commission at a meeting Thursday.

Such pooling would be the fastest way to implement an academic- recovery plan for the district while having the least impact on the district’s general fund, explained Roger Nehls, commission chairman.

Nehls said he spoke by telephone to a now-retired 10-year employee from the Ohio Department of Education, who suggested the idea.

The Cincinnati school district uses pooling.

Though restrictions remain on how the money may be used, Nehls said pooling “provides maximum flexibility for the district.”

There had been concerns about whether the district could use federal funds to implement the academic- recovery plan developed by an academic-distress commission and approved by the state superintendent of public instruction.

Specifically, there were questions from school officials about whether federal Title 1 money could be used to hire new kindergarten teachers.

Part of the academic plan calls for hiring about 30 new kindergarten and first-grade teachers to allow a 15-to-1 student-to-teacher ratio in those grades.

Nehls said the plan to pool the money means that the school district doesn’t have to contract with an expert in federal funding regulations.

The academic-distress commission earlier this week had directed the school board to contract with an expert on federal funding of school districts who is selected by the schools’ fiscal-oversight commission.

Nehls said, however, it still may be necessary for the district to hire personnel on a short-term basis to develop and implement the pooling plan.