Grant Great, But District Must Find $100 Million

January 11, 2010

 The Hillsborough County school district is getting $100 million in a private grant over the next seven years to overhaul education.

But the money comes with a catch: The district must come up with $100 million from other sources to finish the job.

Where to get the money in a sparse economy remains a question, leaving some district leaders defensive while others shrug.

"We don’t have $100 million," acknowledges school board member Dorthea Edgecomb.

One thing is for certain: There is give in a distr ict budget that runs about $3 billion a year, so administrators are confident they can shift money from other programs to initiatives prescribed in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grant.

Among the possible sources:

•$16 million over three years to create a computer lab to prepare for the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test to move online

•$8 million to $11 million each year allocated for the state-mandated Merit Award Program, which ties teacher pay to student performance.

•$10 million in federal Title I money used to expand the district’s "renaissance" schools – high-poverty schools where teachers can earn a higher salary

•$270,000 in salaries paid to three programmers over time for technical work on the Merit Award Program

The Gates grant requires Hillsborough to revamp the way it hires, trains and pays teachers to create a system that produces high school graduates with a better chance for success.

Some funding sources are vague, admits David Steele, the district’s information and technology chief. A lot depends on factors such as how many teachers participate in reward programs created by the grant.

Money could come from unexpected places as well, Steele said. For instance, there were more first- and second-year teachers on staff last school year when administrators began calculating expenses.

With fewer than 600 new teachers this year, the district needs fewer mentors, he said.

"I tell people this is like a blueprint," Steele said. "When you build a house, you go with the blueprint, but you make changes along the way."

That doesn’t mean the district is taking chances at the expense of students or taxpay ers, Edgecomb insists.

"We are a district that is bold and we don’t mind taking calculated risks. But not at the risk of the quality of education or fiscal responsibility," she said.

"We aren’t making things up as we go," Edgecomb said. "This is a work in progress."

Board member Jennifer Faliero was more direct.

"We wouldn’t have entered into this agreement if we didn’t have all the answers in place," she said. "We’re not spending extra money, which is what people don’t understand."

Administrators point to money that could come from an estimated $30 million in grants the district procures each year.

Those listed in the district’s original proposal to the Gates foundation include a $5 million AmeriCorps grant and possibly millions more from the federal Teacher Incentive Fund and other federal grants such as the Obama administration’s Race to the Top.

Hillsborough could receive at least $24 million this year from Race to the Top, funded in part by the federal economic stimulus package. Florida stands to gain $700 million to $900 million toward education reforms if the state wins the grant.

"I’m confident we’ll get it," said former board chairwoman Carol Kurdell, who serves as the board liaison with the Gates foundation. If not, "it’s a hole we’ll have to fill," she said.

The district’s plan is not contingent on the stimulus money, Steele said.

"We’re counting on it to provide enhancements," he said, "but we’re not counting on it to provide core initiatives."

Winning such a historic grant – the largest amount ever give n to a public school district – will open doors for more financial gifts, said Bill Hoffman of the Hillsborough Education Foundation.

The foundation administers the Gates grant and also serves as a separate funding arm for the district, garnering $5 million to $6 million a year in local contributions, Hoffman said.

"The district has gotten the Bill and Melinda Gates seal of approval," Hoffman said, a "star quality" that will help Hillsborough attract regional and national money.

It’s something school administrators are banking on as they embark on an ambitious plan that will cost about $32.5 million a year to sustain.

That concerns taxpayers such as Scott Barrish.

"There is absolutely no way to obtain sustainability in seven years," said Barrish, who is running for the countywide District 6 school board seat next fall. "What if this grant would have come seven years ago? Could anyone have predicted the economic circumstances we’re in right now?"

Ky Vu, the Gates foundation’s program officer for education, acknowledged there are risks.

"But they laid out a very good plan for sustaining this," he said. If not, "it’s hard to say. Seven years out, I can’t say we would rescue the district.

"There’s no bailout plan."