District 1 looking at nearly half-million loss
Due to sequestration cuts, Yuma Elementary School District will be looking at $459,585 less for its federal programs.
At a board meeting Monday, chief financial officer Kerry Jones told the governing board that supplemental programs like Title I, which provides funds to help schools meet the needs of disadvantaged students, and IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), which supports special education, were some of the areas hardest hit by the cuts in District 1.
Title I programs will be cut by $224,473 and IDEA by $86,533 as well as other programs such as Migrant, which provides supplemental program services to the children of seasonal or temporary agricultural workers, at $49,725; 21st Century, which provides academic interventions during after-school programming, at $38,160; Title II, used for professional development and for attracting and hiring teachers, at $27,109; Title III, which provides support for limited English proficiency learners, at $15,182; and Impact Aid, $18,404.
“Fortunately for most all of these programs, the cuts won't go into effect until July 1 of 2013 so we're planning on how we're going to address these cuts,” said Jones. “The one program that is impacted immediately is Impact Aid because that's current year funding. So it's being cut as we speak ... Impact Aid is funding we receive from the government to replace lost property tax revenues for property that's on military bases that we don't tax, for employees that work on a military base, and others not just the military base but Border Patrol — any federal agency — to make up for funds we lose to those agencies.”
In other meeting news, two students from District 1 were recognized for receiving a perfect score on the 2012 EXPLORE exam: Jack Schmidgall of Gila Vista Junior High School and Lizbeth Perez of Castle Dome Middle School.
“Last fall 37,427 eighth-graders in Arizona took the EXPLORE assessment,” said Superintendent Darwin Stiffler. “This rigorous test assesses whether students are on track for college success and is a precursor to the PLAN and ACT tests, which students take in high school. In the entire state, only 38 students achieved a perfect score on the 2012 EXPLORE test.”
Also, the district's 2013 Teacher of the Year nominees were acknowledged with plaques for being selected by their colleagues in the categories of outstanding first year, primary, intermediate, middle school and special area. The teachers will be considered for the 2013 Yuma County Teacher of the Year title.
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Forty-two Teacher of the Year nominees were recognized at the governing board meeting for 2013:
C.W. McGraw Elementary School
Lis, Leslie - 1st Grade, Primary Category
Barksdale, Jodi - 5th Grade,Intermediate Category
Cooksey, Desiree - 2nd Grade,Outstanding First Year Teacher
Castle Dome Middle School
Batres, Ana Laura- Spanish,Jr. High/Middle School Category
Wilhelmy, Nicole K. -Language Arts, Jr. High/Middle School Category
Winters, Jason - Science,Outstanding First Year Teacher
Desert Mesa Elementary School
Maynard, Kristen- 2nd Grade,Primary Category
Eyestone, Rebecca - 4th Grade,Intermediate
Barajas, Krystal - 2nd Grade,Outstanding First Year Teacher
Tunell, Diana G. - Physical Education,K-6 Special Area
Fourth Avenue Junior High School
Morse, Kerry - 6th Grade,Jr. High/Middle School Category
Massaro, Shannon - Social Studies, Outstanding First Year Teacher
G.W. Carver Elementary School
Sinks, Andrea - 3rd Grade,Primary Category
Rodriguez, Rodolfo - 5th Grade, Intermediate Category
Edgerton, Briana - 4th Grade,Outstanding First Year Teacher
Norris, Jarrod - Special Education, K-6 Special Area
Gila Vista Junior High School
Powrie, Tess - Science,Jr. High/Middle School Category
Herman, Carolyn - Language Arts, Outstanding First Year Teacher
James B. Rolle Elementary School
Pielech, Mikal - Kindergarten,Outstanding First Year Teacher
Williams, Cheri - Art, K-6 Special Area
James D. Price Elementary School
Nixon, Kathryn - 2nd/3rd Grade, Primary Category
Mary A. Otondo Elementary School
McClain, Maria - 3rd Grade,Primary Category
Sweney, Meaghan - Art, K-6 Special Area
O.C. Johnson Elementary School
Adair, Jennifer - 1st Grade,Primary Category
Guido, Angela - 5th Grade,Intermediate Category
Doxtader, Richard- 5th Grade,Outstanding First Year Teacher
Christiansen, Paula - Art, K-6 Special Area
Palmcroft Elementary School
Hartley, Jennifer - 2nd Grade,Primary Category
Cole, Blanca - 1st Grade,Outstanding First Year Teacher
Wayman, Sherri - Art, K-6 Special Area
Pecan Grove Elementary School
Ramos, Diana - 1st Grade,Primary Category
Pereira, Regan - 4th Grade,Intermediate Category
Ron Watson Middle School
Acedo, Jacquelin - Math,Jr. High/Middle School Category
Roosevelt Elementary School
German, LynAnne - 1st Grade,Primary Category
Teeter, Teresa - 4th/5th Grade,Intermediate Category
Moreno, Deanna - 2nd Grade,Outstanding First Year Teacher
Pisano, Louis - Physical Education,K-6 Special Area
Sunrise Elementary
Obregon, Aneli - Kindergarten, Primary Category
Logan, Angela - 4th Grade,Intermediate Category
Croutch, Blake - 2nd Grade,Outstanding First Year Teacher
Crane, Meagan - Physical Education,K-6 Special Area
Woodard Junior High School
Gurney, Kelly - Social Studies,Jr. High/Middle School Category
Sarah Womer can be reached at swomer@yumasun.com or 539-6858. Find her on Facebook at Facebook.com/YSSarahWomer or on Twitter at @YSSarahWomer.
