Schools Waiting on Dept. of Ed. Grant Figures

By Adam Swift

In the coming weeks, the Winthrop schools should know exactly how much it is getting in Department of Education grants for the 2023-24 school year.

“We are waiting on the Department of Education,” said Superintendent of Schools Lisa Howard. “Usually, when I am at the superintendent’s conference, which I will be at from July 11 to July 13, that’s when we get the numbers from the Department of Education on the grant allocations.”

Those grants typically include the entitlement grants such as the Special Education 240 grant and all the Title grants.

“I will bring those grants to the committee so you can approve the money coming in, and we will give you an overview of how those grants are being utilized,” Howard said at Monday night’s School Committee meeting.

Overall, Howard said most of the Department of Education grant funds are allocated toward staffing in the Winthrop schools because it balances the school budget to the tune of $1,878,746.

“That is on top of the current budget of $21,240,595,” said Howard. “We supplement that budget with close to $2 million worth of salaries.”

The superintendent said it is not the ideal way the district would like to use the Department of Education grant funding.

“Unfortunately, our hands are tied, and we need to use the majority of those grant funds to supplement the salaries of our schools,” said Howard. “Once they are posted, I will bring all of those numbers back to the School Committee to accept.”