The Norwalk Hour dutifully reported that Gov. Jodi Rell made an announcement in Hartford yesterday that $138 million in Federal stimulus funding was now available to Connecticut cities and towns for special education. According to the report Norwalk received nearly $2.5 million of this money that was made available as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).
At Norwalk's central office however, Director of Special Ed Janie Friedlander was still looking at an empty bank account. According to Ms. Friedlander, The Hour spoke too soon because no money has been transferred to Norwalk yet. She says the funds are still with the State.
Ms. Friedlander said that she has prepared a plan outlining how the money will be spent, but did not give specifics. According to Federal guidelines the money must be spent on programs that will continue to be supported after the stimulus dollars run out.
Tomorrow I'm going to ask Assistant Superintendent Tony Dadonna to specify exactly what items Norwalk intends to use these special stimulus funds on.
Update: In an e-mail Assistant Superintendent Tony Dadonna said: "We have not received the funds yet. We are in the process of writing the IDEA ARRA grant and will present to the State for their approval.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
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I'd like to know what information is taken into account when writing this grant. Is their any input from the community? Seems to me that before we go write a grant and present to the State we should first find out what the needs of the community are so that the grant can target keay areas. Also my understanding is that the State would be informing the districts by way of letter the five targeted areas for IDEA stimulus funds which are: Transition, Autism, Parent Supports, Assistive Technology and Early Childhood. I'd be interested to know how Norwalk district intends to target these areas and again how is the community going to be including in the decision making process. I would suggest the district begin by COMMUNICATION, it still is goal number 3 on our improvement plan. This would be a perfect opportunity and good starting point.
ReplyDelete"We are in the process of writing the IDEA ARRA grant." Say it aint so. This is incredible. Did not the former superintendent already apply and stated publically that he was awaiting the funding?
ReplyDeleteThere are some very serious long-term issues that go beyond the actual grant.
ReplyDeleteFrom reading first The Hour, then the story on the blog, and finally Mr. Daddona's e-mail, one could fairly conclude that the director of special education was not telling the truth to the media or the public.
I assume reception of the funds is contingent on approval of the grant application, which, according to Daddona, has not yet been sent to the state.
Also, if there is a plan for spending the funds, as Ms. Friedlander states, was it approved by the BOE? And if so, when?
Does anyone else, ever think that this is all a dream? A very bad dream in Zombieland.
ReplyDeleteWe dont even have the ARRA stimulus grant application submitted yet? So much for a chance at "Race to the Top" resources. This is unacceptable.
ReplyDelete