By Nanette Light
Norman Public Schools took initial steps to put the district in the pot for a potential portion of $175 million, during a special board meeting Monday night.
Under the Obama administration, Oklahoma could receive $175 million in Race to the Top grant funding -- part of the Obama stimulus initiative for schools -- from a total of $4.5 billion to be divvied out across the nation.
Superintendent Joe Siano said the unanimous Monday night vote on the memorandum, which is due Tuesday, puts the district in the position to accept the dollars -- geared toward school reform -- if offered.
"It's like saying 'hey, we're in,'" Siano said. "Tonight's vote just assures that we could continue with the process."
The funds are being controlled by the Department of Education in Washington and would come through the governor's office, he said.
He said the amount given to the district would be based on its Title I formula. Siano doesn't think, however, that the funding will be inclusive to Title 1 schools, of which Norman has 13, because it includes broader items like professional development and teacher evaluations.
Carla Kimberling, assistant superintendent for educational services, said the district received notice of the potential funding before the winter break and has to turn in the board's approval of the memorandum today.
"It was pretty quick," she said.
And since the district won't officially meet until Jan. 25, it called a special meeting to vote on the memorandum.
Unlike other Oklahoma stimulus dollars aimed largely at filling the state's budget hole, money from the Race to the Top grant was set aside by the Obama Administration specifically for school reform.
"We would consider this to be money on top," Siano said.
Siano said the district hasn't heard when it would receive the money, but it would probably be a 2010-2011 school year implementation. He also said the district hasn't crafted a list of potential projects.
Kimberling said the specifics for the grant and its requirements still are cloudy.
"We won't know until we see it," she said. "But we have an out if we get it and decide we want to opt out."
