American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
In February 2009, President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). The act provides one-time federal funding to make strategic investments in our schools that will help build capacity for improving teaching and learning.
Jeffco Public Schools will receive federal grant money through ARRA funding over the next two years. The funds are one-time money that will be gone at the end of the 2010-2011 school year. The district is being strategic in using these funds for one-time costs to avoid on-going expenditures after the money is gone.
Most of these funds are restricted to IDEA (Special Education) and Title I (Improving the Academic Achievement for Disadvantaged Students) related expenditures, so although a $25 million infusion is expected, the funds cannot be used to cover basic gaps in operating expenditures or compensation.
As legislated, Jeffco Public Schools will use these funds to save jobs, improve student achievement, improve teacher effectiveness, and to provide intensive support and interventions to our lowest performing schools. In addition, the district will have the opportunity to apply for other relatively small dollar ARRA competitive grants that will be used for specific purposes in accordance to the guidelines of the grants.
For more information, please watch A Guide to Understanding the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
There are four criteria that guide the use of the funds:
- Spend funds quickly to save and create jobs
- Improve student achievement through school improvement and reform
- Ensure transparency, reporting and accountability
- Invest one-time recovery funds thoughtfully to minimize any "funding cliff."
To ensure transparency and accountability, Jeffco Public Schools is providing to the public information on where the ARRA Grant money is being used. The Grants Budget Summary details how much money each program is receiving, what initiatives the funds are being used for, and how many jobs will be saved as a result of these funds.
In addition to the Budget Summary above, reports on the actual spending and program accomplishments are posted on a quarterly basis. Download links to these quarterly expenditure reports are below:
Kay Bridges
Compliance and Assurance Manager
Budget Department
303-982-6721