A letter from Superintendent Dorn to district superintendents:
Subject: Reductions in Four Federal Programs for School Year 2011-12
Dear Superintendent:
Recently, the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) received guidance from the U.S. Department of Education that will negatively impact the amount of federal money you receive for the current school year-2011-12.
Congress cut approximately 1.5 percent of the education appropriations in four specific areas:
- Title I grants;
- Title II, Teacher Quality state grants;
- IDEA Section 611 grants to states; and
- Career and Technical Perkins state grant.
Allocations for 2011-12 have already been distributed. This communication is intended to alert you to the imminent federal funds reduction for the current school year. Without trying to get technical, OSPI receives federal appropriations in two "chunks." The first chunk covers July through September and the second chunk covers October through the next August. The 1.5 percent cut is applied just to the second chunk-meaning it could have been even worse.
At this time, we are working on the district-by-district breakdown of what the reductions will be. When those calculations are completed, we will send a more detailed bulletin. Do not be surprised if some districts receive a little more than a 1.5 percent cut and others a little less. That's just how the formulae work. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us. Below are the OSPI contacts for the individual programs.
You may also contact Shawn Lewis, Chief Financial Officer or K-12 Financial Services and Governmental Relations at (360) 725-6111 or email shawn.lewis@k12.wa.us or Bob Harmon, Assistant Superintendent of Special Programs, Secondary Education, School Improvement, and Federal Accountability at (360) 725-6170 or email bob.harmon@k12.wa.us.
Sincerely,
Randy Dorn
