Cedar Rapids elementary schools get staffing boost with state grants

CEDAR RAPIDS - Six Cedar Rapids elementary schools will get some help addressing attendance and behavior issues this school year, thanks to grants from the Iowa Department of Education, the Cedar Rapids Community School District said Tuesday.

The one-year grants, totaling about $448,000 and averaging about $75,000 per school, are intended to target students in kindergarten through third grade considered at risk of struggling with academics, attendance or behavior, administrators said.

They will fund a combination of new and existing positions ranging from paraeducators to specialists who will work with families to improve students' attendance and behavior, said Val Dolezal, the district's executive director of prekindergarten through eighth grade.

The schools were invited by the state to submit applications in part because of their high percentages of students who qualify for free or reduced-price meals - a common measure of poverty in schools - Dolezal said.

At all six of the schools, at least 68 percent of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, Dolezal said. The grants also come at a time when the percentage of such students districtwide is increasing, she said.

Schools had to specify how they would use the money in applying for the grants, Dolezal said, and the grant amounts are based in part on schools' enrollments. Some of the schools have received these grants in past years, she said.

Students' attendance, behavior and academic success often are related, said Amy Russell, the Harrison Elementary School principal.

'We recognize that students are not in the classroom as much as what they should be,” Russell said. That can be for a variety of reasons, she said, including attendance issues or because students are receiving extra social or emotional support.

'We want to make sure if they need to leave the classroom, we're giving them exactly what they need, so that when they're in the classroom, they are ready to learn,” Russell said.

Below is a breakdown of the positions the grants will fund:

l Harrison Elementary: $88,000 for a full-time intervention specialist focusing on behavior and a part-time attendance specialist

l Hoover Elementary: $64,900 for a full-time teacher who will provide small-group instruction to students who need additional help

l Johnson STEAM Academy Magnet School: $70,000 for a part-time attendance specialist and added hours for the school's nurse

l Taylor Elementary School: $70,000 for a full-time and a part-time paraeducator and additional hours for an enrichment coordinator, who provides academic support

l Van Buren Elementary School: $90,000 for a part-time family enrichment coordinator, who will work with families to address attendance, behavioral and academic issues; multiple part-time paraeducators and a part-time intervention specialist

l Wright Elementary School: $65,000 for two full-time paraeducators

l Comments: (319) 398-8204; andrew.phillips@thegazette.com