A small crowd unanimously voted to accept and use $112,851 in state adequate-education grant funds during a special Jaffrey-Rindge Cooperative District meeting Monday night.
The funds became accessible to the district as of July 1, which is when Gov. Chris Sununu signed into law SB 420, which established an extraordinary-need grant for schools in addition to existing adequate-education grants and relief grants. Residents had to vote to accept the funds, which were added to the district’s general fund for use this school year.
According to SB 420, the amount given to each school is based on the number of pupils eligible to receive a free or reduced-price lunch, relative to the property values in the area. In order to receive the grant, the district must provide a plan to the Department of Education outlining how the district plans to improve students’ educational achievements and an accountability plan for measuring student growth in reading, language arts and/or mathematics.
Superintendent Reuben Duncan said the would be used to cover rising facility costs such as electricity and fuel, as well as to develop and implement professional learning communities at each school and throughout the district.
Duncan said maintaining the building’s heat and electricity helped to create a physical environment conducive to learning. When asked to elaborate on implementing a “professional learning community,” and what that entailed, Duncan said the funds would help “firm up the foundation” for using data and student assessments to decide instructional approaches.
Duncan said the district would use in-house assessment, standardized assessments and state assessments to determine where students were in their learning and provide more-targeted instruction. An “inquiry team” made up of team leaders from all schools, representing all grade levels, would be looking at district-wide data trends and making decisions about instruction based on those trends, Duncan said.
“Where are the gaps, and how can we go about filling those gaps? Or, if there are no gaps, and there are learners that show they already understand the material, what are we going to do further with those individuals, as well, to further enhance their learning?” Duncan said. “So, it is for learners, and all learners, regardless of where they are, to see where they’re at, and make plans for providing them growth.”
After less than 15 minutes, and only one question from the audience, the crowd, made up of a few dozen residents of Rindge and Jaffrey, took the vote. By both a show of hands and voice, the crowd unanimously passed the item.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.