School Stimulus Package Announced

Cambridge Public Schools will receive $1.2 million for special education programs and $760,000 for high poverty schools over the next two years as part of the Obama administration’s economic stimulus package.

About 80 percent of the stimulus plan, which was announced in February, has been allotted for education. The funds that Cambridge will receive come from two sources: the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which supports special education initiatives, and Title I, the portion of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act that addresses the needs of disadvantaged students.

Cambridge is currently budgeted to spend $28.2 million on special education programs in total for the 2009-10 school year and already receives about $2 million in Title I funds.

Although the district was notified of these figures earlier this month, it will not actually receive the money until July.

According to Claire B. Spinner, the chief financial officer for Cambridge Public Schools, the application forms for these grants which the district must fill out to receive the funding have not yet been released. She added that the spending and reporting regulations will be very stringent, and that the money can only be used for specific purposes.

The district has not determined exactly what it plans to do with the stimulus money, although Spinner said the funds, which are expected to be temporary, should not be used to create programs or hire personnel that will need to be sustained for longer than two years.

School committee member Alfred B. Fantini, who said that this money “can’t be used to substitute budget problems,” added that he believes the funds will probably go to non-recurring costs such as professional development and training.

Marc C. McGovern, another school committee member, said that he would like to see the stimulus money pay to place social workers in schools, if possible.

Fantini said that he is “pleased” that most of the funding will be devoted to improving special education, the area in the district that he considers most in need of improvement.

“That’s exactly where I would put extra money,” he said, adding that he hopes providing more training for teachers will enable special needs students to be integrated into city schools.

While McGovern agreed that the additional funding will be helpful, he also said that the district will need to address non-financial challenges in special education as well.

“I want us to be more proactive, I want us to be more consumer friendly,” he said. “We need to have a serious conversation about what kind of system we want to be. I think that will go as far as any dollar.”

—Staff writer Sofia E. Groopman can be reached at segroopm@fas.harvard.edu

—Staff writer Michelle L. Quach can be reached at mquach@fas.harvard.edu