Schools

Madison School District to Help State with Grant Application

New Jersey attempting to be selected for "Race to the Top" federal funding.

The Madison Public Schools will be a volunteer district to help the state secure federal funding that would be distributed to all districts which volunteer if a grant is secured.

Madison Superintendent Dr. Richard Noonan said at the Board of Education meeting at Madison High School on Tuesday night that the district would help New Jersey attempt to be one of the 10-15 states the federal government would select to receive what appears to be between $200 and $400 million dollars in additional aid.

The Board of Education passed a measure at its regular meeting for the district to participate in what is officially called "Race to the Top."

Find out what's happening in Madisonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

According to Noonan, if New Jersey were to be one of the states selected for grants, 50 percent of the money would be held back at the state level to assist in developing curriculum direction and staff development for school districts throughout the state.

The other 50 percent would be dispersed throughout the districts which participate in the program.

Find out what's happening in Madisonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Noonan said those districts would share that money based on their annual allocation for Title I, which is based upon the free and reduced lunch program count. He said Madison's percentage of students in the program is somewhere around seven or eight percent, making it a Title I district and eligible for the money.

If Madison were to participate as it plans and the state is one of those selected, Noonan said that the district would receive between $28,000-$80,000 over a four-year period.

"Which is not a huge amount of grant money, but on the other hand it is not insignificant," Noonan said. "In the economic circumstances and times in which we find ourselves, I think every potential dollar in assisting us in moving forward and preserving all the things we are committed to should be pursued."

Applications are due to the federal government by June 1. The selected states will be announced in September.

Noonan said that if the time and resources the district has to devote to updating staff evaluations, gathering other information, and testing is taking away too much from other core curriculum initiatives and district needs, then Madison may choose not to continue with the process.

"Then we'll choose to take a different tact with this," Noonan said. "But at the present time we are pursuing it and eager to receive additional information from the state."


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