Prince William County Schools to Receive Federal Aid Money

Barring unforeseen setbacks, Prince William County Public Schools will be receiving a portion of the $10 billion set aside in a federal teacher aid bill signed by President Barack Obama on Aug. 10, 2010.  

How much the county will receive, and when it will receive the funds is yet to be determined.

At yesterday's Prince William County School Board meeting, the bulk of the attention was given to David S. Cline's presentation on the Federal Education Jobs Fund Program.

Cline, PWCS Associate Superintendent for Finance and Support Services, anticipates when all is said and done, PWCS will receive approximately $15 million, which will be used primarily to hire teachers.

Each state will receive its share of the funding – Virginia is set to receive $249.5 million – after it submits an application to the federal government. From there, Virginia will determine how much funding each county will receive, making it unlikely that Prince William County will see any of the monies before November.

While all members of the School Board were in agreement that the federal aid should be used, the uncertainty surrounding the specifics of the aid money caused the School Board to delay a motion to submit its plan for using the funds to the Prince William Board of County Supervisors.

A special public hearing was held with the Board of County Supervisors on Aug. 23 to decide if the money would be accepted for the use of hiring additional teachers. The board denied the federal money.

The federal bill is designed to prevent teacher layoffs, but since Prince William County has already managed to prevent layoffs of its teachers during the economic crisis, it can use the funding to hire as many as 180 new teachers over the next two years.

The new teachers can help alleviate one of Prince William County Public School's biggest concerns: growing classroom sizes. For the past several years, PWCS has increased class sizes to help balance the budget, but with an average classroom size approaching the maximum number allowed by the state, this budgetary tactic is no longer a viable option.

Specifically, approximately 20 new teachers are needed in seven elementary schools in the district to keep the student to teacher ratio at 18:1. Complying with this ratio would make PWCS eligible for $928,000 in additional state aid under the K-3 Class Size Reduction Grant.  

Much of the discussion amongst the School Board members and Cline involved whether there was even enough classroom space in the county's schools to accommodate 180 new teachers.

Milton Johns, the School Board's Chairman, recalled a time during his tenure as Brentsville District Representative when the school transformed its auditorium into classroom space to accommodate more students and teachers.

Denita Ramirez, the Woodbridge District Representative, agreed that everyone would work together to find appropriate and creative ways to put the money to good use. "It's not politics for us," said Ramirez. "This is funding for children."