Geneva schools turn to feds for Title I money to help low-income kids

The Geneva school district is going after more federal money to help students learn to read and write.

But school board President Mary Stith called it a "bittersweet" matter Monday night, because the money involved is intended to help low-income children. She believes it reflects bad news of the recession's toll on Geneva residents.

The board approved a plan for becoming a Title I school district. The plan, to be filed with the state of Illinois, is necessary to receive federal money for programs for low-income students, particularly those who need help in language and literacy skills.

"At a time when we are facing budget shortfalls, we thought it was imperative to capture as many dollars as we could and as many as we are entitled to for the education of our students," said Patty O'Neil, the district's assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction.

Geneva hasn't had enough low-income students or residents in the past to get enough money to make the extra record-keeping worthwhile, according to its superintendent.

Title I funds are often used for literacy programs. The Geneva district proposes using the money to conduct summer school classes for students who are behind and to hire extra help and buy materials for already-existing reading and language programs. It is seeking about $122,000.

Districts can use several criteria for eligibility for Title I status. They include the number of children ages 5 through 17 in poverty as defined by the U.S. Census, the number of children eligible for free and reduced-price lunches under the National School Lunch Program, the number of children in families receiving Social Security assistance, the number of children eligible to receive Medicaid, or a combination of these.

Geneva chose to go with the number eligible to receive free or reduced-price lunches.

The district listed a low-income rate of 3.5 percent on its 2009 school report card, up from 2.8 percent on its 2008 card. In 2000, it listed its low-income population as 0.4 percent.

The plan notes Title I money could be used to help English-language learners; it expects to have an ELL subgroup at at least one school next year. Subgroups of at least 45 students have their yearly standard achievement test scores broken out on annual progress reports for schools and districts.