Ak-Chin awards MUSD $3.2 million grant

At a midday press conference yesterday Superintendent Jeff Kleck announced that Maricopa Unified School District is the recipient of an Ak-Chin Indian Community $3.2 million grant.

The funds, from state shared gaming revenue, will be apportioned over a two-year period with $1.6 million allocated per year. MUSD worked with the city to apply for the grant, and the district was notified of the award on Tuesday morning.

“Ak-Chin saw a need and wanted to be part of helping this community,” said Kleck. “They have graciously given this grant to fund a turn around project.” 

The MUSD Turn Around Project will affect five schools in the district:  Butterfield Elementary School, Maricopa Elementary School, Maricopa Wells Middle School, Maricopa High School and Saddleback Elementary School.

“The monies will allow us to hire teachers, turn around coaches, a project director and some paraprofessionals in the five schools,” Kleck said.

Grant specifics stipulate the hiring of 25 teachers to reduce class sizes. However, they will not be hired until after the first week or so of the school year, which begins Aug. 2, in order for the district to determine actual student numbers and class sizes. Asked about the timing, Kleck said, “It’s a tough time to hire, but I’d rather have this problem than the other.”

The funds will also allow for a district wide gifted coordinator, a position lost in the personnel reductions during previous district budget cuts. A turn around director, with experience in turning schools around, will be hired to determine progress and what steps the district needs to take to turn the schools around, according to Kleck. This individual will work with principals and the state department of education to evaluate teachers and train them in evaluating data. Eight paraprofessionals will also be hired for assessment monitoring.

The final piece of the grant will fund four turn around coaches, who will be at the three elementary schools and Maricopa Wells, to provide academic and behavioral intervention and possibly assist with the gifted program.

“We will be giving Ak-Chin reports and data as we go along,” said Kleck, who noted that a two-year grant approval is unprecedented for the tribe.

“The Ak-Chin Community has put their trust in this district to spend this money. We are not, not, not using this as an opportunity to adjust funds,” Kleck emphasized. “This is over and above what we have.”

Asked about the effect of the grant on the override election scheduled for Nov. 9, Kleck said the Ak-Chin Community’s trust in the district was obvious. “Just because we have this money for five schools doesn’t mean we don’t need help with the other four schools,” he said. “We just cut $5 million from our budget; without the override that’s another $1 million. We need to sustain where we are as a district.”

MUSD hopes the passage of the override, as well as any monies allocated in the next year or two based on the results of the 2010 Census, will sustain the district when the grant period ends.

“This grant is a bridge that will help us, and we appreciate it very much,” Kleck said.

Photo by Joyce Hollis