School districts in the Rio Grande Valley and across Texas’ 34th Congressional District will receive $159.1 million in Title I U.S. Department of Education grants during fiscal year 2023, U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez announced Tuesday.
Known as Title I formula funds, the grants are targeted to schools with high numbers of students from low-income families to help ensure that all children meet challenging state academic standards.
“The American Dream starts with access to a high-quality education,” Gonzalez, D-Brownsville, stated in a news release.
“This funding allows South Texas students unequivocal access to an education that ensures they are prepared to meet the challenges of tomorrow. An education can do wonders for a child, a family, and a community by allowing an individual the ability to have the necessary skills to contribute to society and break the cycle of poverty for generations.”
In the Brownsville Independent School District, Title I funds are administered through the Special Programs department, whose mission is to improve student achievement by providing leadership and guidance in the implementation and evaluation of state and federally funded campus and district initiatives, the department’s website says.
The Special Programs department assists campuses and the district in effort to increase student achievement through research-based strategies such as:
>> Improving teacher and principal quality through prescriptive professional development;
>> Increasing the number of highly qualified teachers and administrators at the campus-level;
>> Reducing the class-size at 5th grade;
>> Assisting students most at-risk of not graduating; and
>> Providing assistance to students and their families who meet the eligibility criteria for the McKinney Vento Homeless Assistance Program.
>> Providing assistance to students and their families who meet the eligibility criteria for the Migrant Education Program.
The grant amounts announced Tuesday are preliminary, but final amounts will be posted in June, Gonzales’ office stated.
Here are the preliminary allocations:
>> Brownsville ISD: $32,478,930;
>> Donna ISD: $16,671,164;
>> Edcouch Elsa ISD: $3,499,479;
>> Edinburg Consolidated ISD: $26,425,232;
>> Harlingen Consolidated ISD: $9,641,402;
>> Kenedy County-Wide Consolidated School District: $1,639;
>> Kingsville ISD: $2,630,810;
>> La Feria ISD: $1,298,265;
>> Lasara ISD: $166,100;
>> Los Fresnos Consolidated ISD: $4,372,100;
>> Lyford Consolidated ISD: $793,108;
>> McAllen ISD: $13,294,074;
>> Mercedes ISD: $4,050,261;
>> Point Isabel ISD: $1,382,822;
>> Progreso ISD: $1,073,863;
>> Pharr-San Juan-Alamo ISD: $20,801,822;
>> Raymondville ISD: $1,409,370;
>> Ricardo ISD: $226,634;
>> Rio Hondo ISD: $873,922;
>> Riviera ISD: $107,130;
>> San Benito Consolidated ISD: $6,894,649;
>> San Perlita ISD: $107,047;
>> Santa Maria ISD: $405,045;
>> Santa Rosa ISD: $529,452;
>> Weslaco ISD: $9,990,006.
The U.S. Department of Education expects to release final allocations in June. Final numbers will differ from the preliminary allocations due to updates to the annually collected counts of children in locally operated institutions for neglected or delinquent children, in foster homes, and in families above the Census poverty line that receive assistance under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program (non-Census formula children’s data) and to LEA finance data used in the Education Finance Incentive Grants formula. There may be additional differences if a state were to report revisions to its State Per-Pupil Expenditure (SPPE) data, the release stated.
