Peabody schools receive $306G

PEABODY – Peabody Superintendent Milton Burnett announced Tuesday night that the schools’ Title 1 allocation received quite a boost for the 2009 fiscal year.An additional $306,122 will be provided to the city to supplement direct services to students at both the Welch and Carroll elementary schools.Title 1 Director Sarah Lacourciere made specific suggestions regarding proper use of the funds, all of which were approved by the School Committee.In a memo to the Superintendent, she wrote, “Due to an increase in the Title 1 FY’09 budget, a decline in math scores, and an increase in Limited English Proficient students, new positions were created to meet the needs of the students.” All salaries and benefits will be fully covered by the additional funding.Lacourciere reported that nearly one-third of all students at the Welch School fell into the Limited English Proficient category. To help combat that below par statistic, a full-time ELL Teacher was hired. In previous reviews, the city was cited by the Massachusetts Department of Education that the number of ELL teachers and tutors at the Welch was inadequate.Similarly, a Math Specialist has been hired to work with students at both elementary schools, where scores have been declining since 2004 with only a slight improvement in 2007, said Lacourciere. The Welch School’s AYP status is currently at Corrective Action and the Carroll School sits in Year 1 Improvement.”There is a need to increase quality math instruction and collaboration in all grade levels in our efforts to improve MCAS scores,” she wrote.Lacourciere went on to say that the Math Specialist would help to ensure grant requirements were carried out, such as grade level math assessments, progress monitoring, and data analysis.”This will help students that are identified as academically at risk,” said Burnett in an earlier interview.School Committee members Tuesday shared similar sentiments.”This is great,” said Beverley Ann Griffin Dunne. “Just really outstanding?They need this so much.”The grant will also cover the salary of a part-time Title 1 Parent Coordinator at the recommendation of Lacourciere. The new hire would help assist the director in organizing parent meetings, conducting parental surveys, maintaining community awareness, and enhancing community involvement. The coordinator would also update the Title 1 Web site, organize family events, and create a monthly newsletter.A new first grade teacher will also be hired at the Burke School to help reduce class size. He said that the teacher’s salary and benefits would not be covered through the grant, however, but through funds made available within the school’s budget.