Superintendent defends decision to turn down grant

Superintendent defends decision to turn down grant

Oct. 26, 2000

BY MATT GLECKMAN
Journal Staff Writer

Re-1 Superintendent Bill Thompson responded Wednesday to a letter criticizing the school board’s decision to turn down a GEAR UP grant.

Margie Larson, a local Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs counselor, said in a letter distributed to Montezuma County voters and parents that the board’s decision on Sept. 19 not to accept the grant denies many local students the opportunity to receive partial or full-ride scholarships to any college or university in the state of Colorado.

According to Larson’s letter, GEAR UP was awarded $120 million in August 1999 to help more than 200,000 poor and minority children. Additional funds would be made available through corporate and private donations, she said.

"I can’t express how deeply it saddens me to inform you of this unfortunate occurrence. The responsibility for this action lies solely with the school board and the administration," Larson wrote in her letter. She estimated in her letter that the amount might have been more than $5 million.

However, on Wednesday Thompson said three factors led to the board’s decision to turn down the GEAR UP grant.

"First, all eighth-graders would be required to take the Explorer version of the ACT (American College Test) — but the only kids that are eligible for the money are those who have been approved for free and reduced lunches," Thompson said, adding that eighth-graders are already required to take the CSAP and levels tests. Thompson said that the ACT test would take students approximately three hours to complete.

On Wednesday, Larson said such an argument holds little water. "The school board said they were concerned about the three hours and 45 minutes that it takes to administer the test — this is the same school district that allows school dances to go on during school hours. So I don’t buy a lot of their excuses," Larson said.

She added that students are required to take the ACT test in 11th grade in order to be considered for college admission. The GEAR UP grant would pay for the eighth-grade version of the ACT test and would help students prepare for the 11th-grade ACT test, she said.

Thompson said the second reason for turning down the grant was that schools would have to implement a new reading tutorial program which is not compatible with tutoring programs that are already in place. "We don’t want to send the kids conflicting messages," He said.

Larson said that the SRA tutorial, which is required for GEAR UP grant approval, is a one-on-one program intended to help boost students’ reading skills by a grade level. The SRA program would have enhanced the schools’ programs, she said. "Many students have different learning styles and this is just another approach — quite frankly this was to help them," Larson said.

Thompson said the last reason for turning down the grant was that the board could not be sure what unexpected changes to the contract might occur in the future. "When Margie (Larson) came before the board we asked her what surprises there might be in the future," he said. "She couldn’t say what they might be," he said.

At the Sept. 19 meeting, board member Jaclyn Fisher made a motion to participate in the grant, but it died for lack of a second, Thompson said.