Treutlen schools to receive Race to the Top funds

Treutlen County will receive $1.3 million during four years in federal Race to the Top funds that Jones County rejected last month, according to state and local officials.

The Jones County school board voted not to pursue the federal funds intended to improve student achievement in a meeting Oct. 25, the same day local school districts were to submit their plans for their share of the funds to the state Department of Education.

The vote followed the recommendation of Superintendent William Mathews, who objected to the some of the terms of the grant funds, including performance-based pay for teachers and the requirement that local districts eventually sustain any new initiatives brought about by Race to the Top once the funds were depleted.

The district pursued the grant before Mathews became superintendent earlier this year.

Jones County originally was allocated $573,000 in Race to the Top funds. Later, state officials decided Jones, as well as other districts receiving less than $1.3 million, would receive at least that amount because of changes in the management of the grant at the state level.

After finding out that Jones County would not pursue the funds, Treutlen County school officials notified the Georgia Department of Education they were interested.

“We’re excited to have Treutlen County on board -- we have a great partner with them,” said Teresa MacCartney, implementation director for Georgia’s Race to the Top plan.

The Treutlen County Board of Education approved to participate in Race to the Top at a board meeting Nov. 8, according to Superintendent Chuck Ellington.

“Jones County dropped out, and we dropped in,” said Ellington, who leads a district of just more than 1,100 students.

The decision to bring Treutlen County on board came shortly before Georgia’s deadline to submit its state Race to the Top plan to the U.S. Department of Education on Monday.

State officials went ahead and submitted plans involving the other 25 local school districts in Georgia receiving Race to the Top money, MacCartney said.

Among those are three Middle Georgia districts that will receive a combined $16 million during four years. Bibb County will receive $13.3 million, Pulaski County $1.4 million, and Peach County $1.3 million.

Treutlen County has until Dec. 3 to submit its plans to the state, and the state will send those plans to federal leaders by Dec. 10, MacCartney said. The state will likely approve its Race to the Top plans either at a called meeting in December or at its regular January board meeting, according to MacCartney.

Ellington sees Treutlen County’s participation in Race to the Top as a way to implement and provide input on initiatives that may eventually be used statewide, such as curriculum standards, student longitudinal data and teacher merit pay.

“I’d rather drive the train than try to catch the caboose,” he said.

Because the state has not classified either Treutlen County’s elementary school or combined middle and high school among Georgia’s lowest-achieving, the district will not have to implement a school turnaround model, which would require schools to implement one of four plans that could involve major changes to a school’s structure or staff, Ellington said.

To contact writer Andrea Castillo, call 256-9751.

This story was originally published November 24, 2010 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Treutlen schools to receive Race to the Top funds."