Federal funding for School Department may decrease
By Ken Powers Community Reporter

Westborough - As if the financial picture wasn't bleak enough, the School Department expects a decrease in federal funding for fiscal year (FY) 2009.

The funding reduction will be in the area of assistance that is provided by the government for low-income students in the school district, Superintendent Anne Towle said.

For FY 2008, Westborough received $86,798 in Title 1 funding, the category that provides help to district's to finance low-income students.

A low-income student, according to the Department of Education Web site, is a student who is "enrolled full-time in a public school and who is eligible for free or reduced cost lunches." The amount of federal aid received by a district is in direct proportion to the number of low-income students in the district.

In FY 2006, 223 Westborough students were classified as low-income students. For FY 2007, 192 students were considered low-income students.

Assistant Superintendent Marianne O'Connor said the FY 2008 low-income student figures have not been completely tabulated yet, but early indications show another reduction in the number of low-income students.

O'Connor said a reduction in the number doesn't mean less federal funds is a certainty, but it is how the scenario has played out previously.

"You never know what you're going to get the next year, but it's certainly based on the number of low-income kids you have enrolled," O'Connor said. "So, if we got $86,798 this year it's more likely than not that it will go down."

O'Connor said a reduction in the number of lowincome students in the district could be caused by many factors, but the most likely scenario is that some students may have lost their eligibility because their family's income total surpassed the minimally acceptable amount, according to federally mandated guidelines.

Another factor, O'Connor said, is that a number of families in the district either don't know about there being a low-income guideline that qualifies them for specific programs such as free or reduced school lunches, or that they know about the program and are eligible but don't sign up. Both factors lower further the total lowincome student enrollment number for the district.

Towle said the Title 1 funding the school district receives is used for two math tutors at Mill Pond Elementary School and a single math tutor at both the Armstrong and Hastings Elementary schools. Fales Elementary School, the superintendent explained, doesn't receive Title 1 funding because the school doesn't have enough low-income students to qualify for the program.

Towle explained that Title 1 funding is designed for both program and curriculum development and instructions for educational programs in eligible schools. The superintendent said Westborough opts to use its Title 1 funding for math classes and extra help because the system employed reading specialists for its English program when the funding came into existence.