Schools

District to File Claim for $942,000 in Jobs Act Money

Menomonee Falls was allotted the money in September to save teaching jobs, and the school will claim its portion as soon as possible.

The Menomonee Falls School District will file the necessary paperwork to claim the nearly $1 million in Federal Jobs Act money designated to the district in September 2010.

The state of Wisconsin was granted $179 from the United States Department of Education as part of its initiative to save teaching jobs around the country. Menomonee Falls was allotted $942,000 from the state’s share, but had yet to file a claim for the funds. Jeffrey Gross, director of business services, said the district will now place a claim for the whole portion as soon as possible.

Ideally, Gross said they would like to file a claim for the dollars by April 5, which is the next filing deadline. However, if that isn’t possible, they would place their claim by July 6 at the latest if the claim can’t be completed by next week. The district was holding off on claiming the money until they had an idea of what the budget would look like in 2011-12.

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“We wanted to see what we looked like for next year’s budget, and to see what kind of layoffs we were facing,” Gross said. “We want to claim the dollars now so we can have it in our hands for saving jobs next year.”

During a District Finance Committee meeting Tuesday, Chairman Ron Bertieri expressed some concern that turmoil in Madison and political unknowns could jeopardize the availability of the money in the future. However, Gross said the decision wasn’t driven by politics at the Capitol.

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“It’s a move that I think puts the district in a better position,” Gross said.

Districts around the state have until October 5, 2012 to file claims for the funds.

The latest budget projections paint a deficit of roughly $3 million to $5 million depending on the proposed budget bill’s affect and how the district implements measures detailed in the bill. The funding would be a welcome infusion of funds for the 2011-12 year.

The Jobs Act funds are meant to retain Full Time Equivalent (FTE) employees, recall FTE that were laid off or hire new employees. However, the district is able to supplant already budgeted expenses with the Jobs Act money in order to free up revenue.

According to a memo from the Wisconsin Department of Instruction, supplanting budgeted items with Jobs Act money is discouraged, but not prohibited. The district could supplant budgeted items, and free up $942,000 to use at its discretion.

Gross said several other districts around the state have utilized Jobs Act funding in a similar way.

The district must prove the number of FTE it will save when filing the claim. However, Gross said he didn’t have a projection of the number of FTE the funds would save as of Wednesday.


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