Lansing School Board announces new grant spending plan

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The Lansing School District Board of Education discussed its spending plan for two grants that the district applied for.

The Lansing School Board meets on the first and third Thursdays of each month. Meetings take place at the  Shirley M. Rodgers Administration Building.

The grant presentation panel included Curt Barnum, Director of State and Federal grants, Heather Guerra, Assistant Director of Instruction, Yvonne Thomas, Director of Instruction, and Jessica Benavides, Deputy Superintendent of Schools. 

The first grant, Section 35a, will help ensure that students are reading at grade level by the end of 3rd grade.

The grant will implement an instructional delivery model based on the frequent use of formative, screening, and diagnostic tools to determine individual progress for students in grades Pre-K to 3rd grade. 

Professional learning is also one of the grants’ initiatives. Teachers have the opportunity to complete the Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling Training, also known as LETRS training. 

This training will allow teachers to better understand the complexity of reading, sources of reading difficulties, and ways to successfully teach all students, including those with significant literacy-related needs. Teachers who choose to participate in LETRS training will receive extra pay.

“Many of our teachers have participated in the training that’s being offered through the state…It is about 180 hours of additional time outside of their classroom instruction.” Benavides said. 

The second grant, Section 98c, is a learning loss funding grant, part of Governor Whitmer’s Emergency Education Fund and the Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund. This grant will provide access to high-quality instruction designed to close achievement and opportunity gaps caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the US News, the pandemic set students back in math and reading.

This grant will help implement The MAP Accelerator, which is one of the key initiatives for students. The  MAP accelerator is a personalized learning resource that helps teachers differentiate math instruction for students in 3rd-8th grade. This tool is run by Khan Academy.

“We can’t have a group lesson for 28 kids and expect that they’re all going to walk out of the room knowing the same thing. We know that they are coming with different skill sets and different knowledge bases, and that’s an important part of early learning,” Guerra said.

Another key initiative for the district is Newsela. Newsela will engage all students at a time when widening learning gaps require more tailored instruction. Newsela’s MAP Growth reading assessment provides teachers with the data needed to understand what students are ready to learn. 

“The resources have weekly monitoring of the progress for the students as well, so you know exactly what your students need day to day,” Guerra said.

The school district expects to receive $180,000 from Section 35a, and anywhere from $500,000 to 1.5 million from Section 98c.

“These are leftover funds from GEER [Governor’s Emergency Education Relief] and Plan ESSER [Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Programs]” Barnum said.

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