By Antonio D. French
Filed Thursday, May 25 at 6:29 AM
Dr. Lynn Spampinato's tenure as chief academic officer of the St. Louis Public Schools ended six months ago, but the effects of some of her controversial decisions are still being uncovered.
At a recent meeting of the school board, Elois Brooks, the district's new CAO, told board members that Spampinato failed to apply for a waiver from the federal government to pay for curriculum coaches out of Title I funds even though they were not certified in math or science as required. Cedric Lewis, the district's interim chief financial officer, said the result is that those coaches will now have to be paid for out of the general budget.
The cost of Spampinato's mistake: $1 million.
Lewis said the Title I funds budgeted for the coaches do not have to be paid back to the federal government. They can be used for other programs. However, the district has $1 million less than originally thought to use for other projects paid for out of the general budget.
Up to now, Title I funds had been used for reading and math instruction in elementary schools and middle schools. Next year, the district is going to spread them out to high schools, too.
These two hits are going to cost elementary schools upwards of half of their budgets for reading and math instruction for children who need extra help. Resource teachers, teaching assistants, parent liaisons, and curriculum coaches are expected to lose positions.
Related Stories:
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1 Comments:
I worked for/with Lynn in Denver at Mitchell Elementary School. She was an amazing administrator. I value all of the experiences that she gave me and how much I was able to learn from her.
Not everyone likes her? So what!!! She always put children and their needs first!! I bet your district is clever enough to figure out how to reallocate the funding.
Wednesday, July 12, 2006 12:41:00 AM
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