looking at School Committee approving grants that WPS gets
policies tied to grants now: School Committee and community weigh which policies we implement and thus that for which we apply
take "temperature" of School Committee prior to application (as admin wouldn't want to apply for grants that School Committee wouldn't approve)
sent to F&O
OMG-- I am so glad that I am retired from the grants management position. This is micromanagement at its finest. By doing this, the school committee is delaying the grants writing process by a minumim of two weeks by the time grants get on an agenda, discussed and voted upon, sent back to management to make a plan, and out to the schools. And, the best grant writer in the District has just left for a job at Cambridge College. God works in mysterious ways and I am thankful every day that I chose to retire.
ReplyDeleteHey, Joan: this one is mine. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd it is in MA General Laws this way; I'm just looking to get it back.
theres no delay--there is some talk of taking the temperature of the school committee and the community to see if the purpose of the grant is congruent with the goals of the community. If the school dept was applying for a grant that replaced cafeterias with Starbucks, the school committee would like to know in advance.
ReplyDeleteTracy the link you provided was to the budget doc, is your big grant doc somewhere else on the web or embedded in the budget doc
I'm sorry: you're right. Let me ask admin. We got it as backup but it didn't get posted, and since I was trying to make it public...
ReplyDeleteis the school dept going to hire a grant writer?
ReplyDeleteT-Traveler, I am sure that they will be filling the position. Right now there is only one grants person. The division is responsible for submitting over 40 million dollars worth of grants every year. Tracy, I believe that the school committees, or their designee, only say "yes" we want to apply for/accept these funds. I believe it was the previous school committee gave this authority to the Supt. All I am saying is this is adding an extra layer of bureaucracy. And, T Traveler, I was Manager of this WPS division for five years and I totally understand how the entire political process works. It would take the management team time to decide which schools would apply for funds once an RFP came out. Also, there were times when I would get a call from the MA Department of Education and had to respond by the end of the day to receive end of the year funds. It was a lot easier to go to the Supt to get permission. These would have been lost funds because there was no way this could have gone to school committee. I can think of at least 350,000 that we received this way. This is my last post on your blog. I wish you luck in your quest to micromanage the WPS.
ReplyDeleteTracy I agree with you taht the school ccommittee has a responsibility for these grants under MGL. If thats a problem with ESE then they should be reminded whats in the law. Maybe the J. O'Brien-Murray relationship could be leveraged to address this.
ReplyDeleteT, as far as I know the state does not. And in my speaking to the superintendent about this beforehand, we did talk through time constraints.
ReplyDeleteit would be interesting to see a list of "end of the year funds" grants, how the money was expended, and a measurable outcome-how student achievement was raised or some other achievement.
ReplyDeleteAlso, how often are "end of the year funds" made available and could supreintendent sign off with final acceptance voted by school committee later
T, we just voted this authority in the last school committee. By my understanding, this is done as a matter of course in early June each year so the administration can finish out the year. Then School Committee gets a report back on funds expended.
ReplyDeletei thought the authority you voted was to move money around in different accounts to close out the year. are you sure that authority extends to accepting end-of year grant funds form the state?
ReplyDeleteI am still uncertain how well these funds can be spent in a day