CLPE, Eyestone dropped from Title I program

By Cherry Sokoloski
North Forty News

Despite an increase in poverty due to a poor economy, services for low-income students in two Poudre School District schools will decline next year.

That reality hit parents in March, when they were notified that Cache La Poudre Elementary in LaPorte and Eyestone Elementary in Wellington are losing Title I funding next year. According to Title I program coordinator Jan DeLay, a third school could be dropped as well.

"Poverty is spreading in the district, but it's also increasing in other areas of the state," DeLay explained. That means more competition for Title I funding, and school districts that aren't "poor enough" are losing some of their support.

PSD has been dealing with Title I funding cuts the past two years. Funding declined $40,000 in 2008-2009 and went down another $80,000 this year. DeLay expects another decrease next year.

Title I programs help low-income students with reading and math skills; the bulk of funding is used for reading. The loss of this funding at the two schools will mean "fewer teachers who typically provide intervention for kids who are struggling," DeLay said.

The loss of Title I funding will be keenly felt at the two elementary schools. Eyestone will lose two full-time certified teachers plus eight hours per day of paraprofessional help. At CLPE, the school will lose 1.4 certified teaching positions and three hours of paraprofessional time each day.

"This will be dramatic," said Eyestone Principal David Sobson. The Title I teachers are experts in reading, he noted, and their skills will be missed.

However, he added, Eyestone has other teachers trained in intervention. The Eyestone staff will look at ways to keep the same level of support for students. They will consider models developed by other schools that don't receive Title I funding, and they may use school volunteers more.

CLPE Principal Roxanne Hall said the loss of funding "makes it very difficult for small-group interventions" with students who need extra help. "It's very disheartening," she said, but the staff plans to be creative in order to meet the children's needs.

DeLay noted that a drop in federal funding "hurts in a much sharper way" in states like Colorado, where the budget is already cut to the bare bones. Within PSD, individual schools are being asked to make cuts of 4.5 percent in next year's budgets because of the state's financial squeeze.

A further challenge for local Title I programs relates to the No Child Left Behind Act. Since some schools in the district have not made the required Annual Yearly Progress as stipulated in the bill, 20 percent of next year's Title I funds for PSD must be used to improve those schools. It's the first time that Title I funds have had to be used for that purpose, DeLay said.

With the loss of CLPE and Eyestone, PSD will still have nine Title I schools. The remaining schools are Irish, Putnam, Moore, Laurel, Harris Bilingual, O'Dea, Bauder, Tavelli and Beattie.

In years past, the criterion for being a Title I school was based on the number of both free and reduced-fee lunches at the school. DeLay changed that recently to just free lunches, because the number of reduced-fee lunches varies widely throughout the year. With the change in eligibility, students at the highest level of poverty will be more narrowly targeted, she said.

Schools with the highest number of students receiving free lunches must be served first, DeLay said. At the remaining Title I schools, the percentage of students receiving free lunches ranges from 34 percent at Beattie to 86 percent at Irish. By comparison, 24.1 percent of Eyestone students and 32.8 percent at CLPE qualify for free lunches.

Districtwide, DeLay said, poverty has been increasing over the past few years, based on the number eligible for free lunches and the number of homeless students.

In 2007, 20 percent of students were eligible for free lunches. That increased to 21 percent in 2008 and 24.1 percent in 2009. Eligibility is based on family income and the number of children in the family; it correlates closely with the federal poverty level, which is currently $22,050 for a family of four.

The number of homeless students in PSD was 627 in 2007, 740 in 2008 and 782 in 2009. This year, the number is already up to 800, DeLay said. The district uses federal guidelines to measure homelessness; these students are not necessarily living on the streets, but they may live in marginal housing or their families may live with other families.