The Warren County R-III School District will see a $75,663 decrease in Title 1 funding for the 2024-25 school year. In this most recent school year, they received $627,391 from the fund. Next year, …
This item is available in full to subscribers.
We have recently launched a new and improved website. To continue reading, you will need to either log into your subscriber account, or purchase a new subscription.
If you are a digital subscriber with an active subscription, or you are a print subscriber who had access to our previous wesbite, then you already have an account here. Just reset your password if you have not yet logged in to your account on this new site.
If you are a current print subscriber and did not have a user account on our previous website, you can set up a free website account by clicking here.
Otherwise, click here to view your options for subscribing.
Please log in to continue |
The Warren County R-III School District will see a $75,663 decrease in Title 1 funding for the 2024-25 school year. In this most recent school year, they received $627,391 from the fund. Next year, it will drop down to $551,728.
Title 1 was established by Congress more than 50 years ago with the purpose of providing school districts financial assistance for students in low socioeconomic statuses. The goal is to give each student a fair, accessible and valuable education. These funds are distributed to all three of the district’s elementary schools.
Since the 2019-20 school year, Title 1 funding has not seen more than a $7,000 drop. Superintendent Dr. Gregg Klinginsmith noted this is something other districts are experiencing statewide as well.
Klinginsmith noted the district was seeing a fewer number of students with free or reduced lunches, which is one of the factors that goes into how much money a district will receive.
“When you have less students, and then there's also a decrease in Title one funding, you know, that's just not a good formula for the district,” Klinginsmith said.
This has caused the school board to drop two positions. Daniel Boone Elementary and Warrior Ridge will go from having three instruction support teachers to each having two. Klinginsmith noted the school is prepared for the upcoming school year despite the shrinkage of funds.
“We were expecting a little bit of decrease, but this is a lot more than I was expecting to see,” Klinginsmith said.
Instruction support teachers are funded through Title 1. These teachers help students one-on-one if they are struggling in a certain subject.
Klinginsmith expressed disappointment that fewer students will be able to access these resources.
“These are important positions in our school district that do a lot of great work,” Klinginsmith said.
The board is keeping an eye on further funding decreases to get ahead of any future losses. The board also discussed the possibility of eliminating another instruction support teacher for the 2026-27 school year.
Funding also went down slightly in Title 2 and Title 3, but the decline was not as extreme. Title 2 went down $6,077 and Title 3 by $2,743.
“We have to forecast for a little bit and see if we need to go down another one. I really hope we don't,” Klinginsmith said.
