With more than $60,000 in grant money possible, Mooresville Graded School District officials are hopeful that they will see this small portion of $400 million the state may receive.
Early last week, Gov. Beverly Perdue sent North Carolina's application for the federal "Race to the Top" program, which was derived from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The state is eligible for $400 million in education funding, which would be awarded in $100-million increments over four years.
If North Carolina is awarded this money, it would be divided among school districts statewide based on student population. The MGSD is eligible for $60,822 while Iredell-Statesville Schools could potentially receive $417,341.
Although the MGSD has not specifically earmarked where their monies would go if awarded, Spokesperson Dreisa Sherrill said the grant would come at a time where every dollar is needed in the district.
"With the economic status, every kind of grant, any kind of money we can get our hands on" is helpful, said Sherrill, noting that the $60,000 would assist current programs the MGSD utilizes, including the Digital Conversion Initiative.
She added, "We have some things we would like to do down the road … but this would not be the funding source for that."
States will be scored during the competitive grant process on how well they have raised student achievement, planned for future reform and implemented schooling standards set by the U.S. Department of Education. Grant winners who submitted their applications by the Phase 1 deadline of Jan. 19 will be announced in April.
If North Carolina is denied grant monies in April, the state is eligible to apply in Phase 2, which has a deadline of June 1. States that needed more time to prepare their applications are also able to apply in Phase 2. However, any state awarded grant money in April may not apply for additional funding in Phase 2.
(Reporter Chyna Broadnax contributed to this article.)
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