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RUNNING HEAD: You are the principal of Argosy School. Your current budget does not cover all the areas you have identified as needing implementation to increase student achievement on your campus. Identify two specific needs that you want to meet with regard to either student learning or teacher training. Conduct an Internet search and find a grant or other additional source of revenue that will help your vision become a reality. Prepare a brief proposal designed for the entity you are applying to. Argosy School has two areas of need that cannot be fully covered by the current budget. The first issue to address is the reading program. While most students read well according to state and local tests, there is a gap with poorer readers that the school is not addressing as well as it could. Current budget restraints prevent us from tackling some of the reading problems our students have, thus they are not making adequate yearly progress, either as defined by the federal government, or by what we hope for our Argosy students. The second area of need is in our music program. We have a significant number of musicians who would like to participate in various ensembles such as jazz or brass ensembles. This falls outside our regular music program but is one that the school would like to offer to interested student musicians. Given the history of Argosy School's musicians it would be appropriate to offer this type of extra-curricular activity. To meet the needs of the readers at Argosy School, the school is applying for a grant to the U.S. Department of Education, Elementary and Secondary Education grants for a five-year period. (http://fedgrants.gov.) Specifically the school will apply to a grant called, "Striving Readers." (http://www.ed.gov) Argosy School would like to create a special program for readers who are not progressing as well as the district would like. Thus, the school is proposing instituting a Reading Clinic for the district. There are several reading specialists already working in the district, any one of whom would be qualified to oversee a Reading Clinic. However, to make this work, we will need to procure some funds that our district budget does not cover. Expenses are foreseen in the following areas: planning and implementation of the reading clinic, hiring reading tutors to work under the reading specialist in charge of the clinic, and materials that are geared towards enabling low achieving readers at all grade levels. The staff of Argosy School foresees it being staffed by three reading tutors, and overseen by a reading specialist. Each tutor would focus on one specific area of reading instruction: 1) phonics, decoding, structurally analysis, and multi-syllabic word identification, 2) literature, and 3) writing about reading-journals, quick writes, and response writing to indicate comprehension. The details of how this clinic will function will be part of the planning and implementation of the proposal and will be the focus of a reading specialist. Therefore, this proposal will focus on how to fund this venture, and what cost estimates are foreseen. Preliminary Cost Estimates for a Reading Clinic (Per diem pay schedule reflects the current average per diem rate for grade level assistants.) Tutor 1 (part-time) $11/hour - 4 hours/day=$44/day Annual salary $7,920 Tutor 2 (part-time) $11/hour - 4 hours/day=$44/day Annual salary $7,920 Tutor 3 (part-time $11/hour - 4 hours/day=$44/day Annual salary $7,920 Reading Specialist In the annual budget-current staff position Supplies $10,000-books, computers, and appropriate materials for struggling readers Planning/Implementation/Training $10,000 Total estimate $43, 760 To propose a grant request Argosy School needs to "submit an application to the State educational agency at such a time, in such manner and containing such information as the State educational agency may reasonably require." (www.ed.gov) The information above is what Argosy School would preliminarily propose to the United States Department of Education. Argosy School would also like to create some separate band ensembles that will cost about $5,900. Students have professed an interest in having both a jazz and a brass ensemble in addition to the regular band. An effort of this nature cannot take place during the school day because the current music schedule is already packed with three choruses, three bands, as well as select chorus and select band. The current music teaching staff has no more time in the school day to offer any additional opportunities. The proposed ensembles would need to occur either before or after school, or in the evenings. The National Endowment for the Arts provides grants for projects that include projects for specific projects. (http://Endow.gov). Therefore, the district would like to propose that Argosy School request a $5,400 grant for a start-up project to provide musical equipment and a teacher to fund these ensembles. To further complement this program Argosy School would apply for some funding both from the Granite State Symphony Orchestra as well as the New Hampshire State Orchestra. Both organizations offer limited grants to schools that are trying to create innovative programs for students. Request to each symphony would be for $250 to help to cover the cost of music and supplies. Preliminary Cost Estimates for Musical Ensembles (Per diem rates are based on average rates charged by music teachers in the area.) Teacher-Part-time 1.5 hours/2 days a week $50/hour= $5,400 Music and other materials $500 Total estimate $5,900 In conclusion, Argosy School would benefit from a reading improvement program such as the Reading Clinic, and would also benefit from musical ensemble groups. The funds that might be available from various grants and foundations will help to support these programs that would otherwise not be possible. This is a good example of how grants and other sources of funding might be used to implement otherwise excellent programs. REFERENCES Granite State Symphony Orchestra. Retrieved November 28, 2005, from www.gsso.org. National Endowment for the Arts. Retrieved November 23, 2005, from http://arts. Endow.gov/grants/apply/GAP06/GrantProgDescript.html. < br> New Hampshire Symphony Orchestra. Retrieved November 28, 2005 from http://www.nhso.org. U.S. Department of Education. Striving Readers. Retrieved November 28, 2005, from http://fedgrants.gov/Applicants/Ed/HRO/DCMGD/ED-GRANTS- 081505-001 Grant.html.

E7138 School Site-Based Budgeting

Module 5: Assignment 3, Application 2

Tim Quinney

Claremont v the State of New Hampshire, 1997, the New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled that the state could no longer rely on local property taxes to pay for it's public schools. School financial reform is an unsetting prospect for New Hampshire citizens who take