Community members are invited to join a committee at R.O. Hardin
to decide how to spend nearly $300,000 received by the school,
through a lawsuit, to increase test scores.
Hollister – Community members are invited to join a committee at R.O. Hardin to decide how to spend nearly $300,000 received by the school, through a lawsuit, to increase test scores.
R.O. Hardin will receive $291,341 next year and around $500,000 a year after that to improve student achievement. To receive this funding, however, the school must work with the community to develop a plan for how to spend the money.
The elementary school was one of 488 California schools that qualified for the money, won through a settlement in a suit by the California Teachers Association and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell against Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The suit alleged that the neediest schools were not being adequately funded by the state budget.
The settlement provided $3 billion to low-performing schools over the next seven years to improve test scores.
Hollister Elementary School Teachers Association President Ronna Gilani said the money will give R.O. Hardin a chance to catch up with other district schools. Both R.O. Hardin and Calaveras qualified for the funds because they ranked lowest in standardized test scores. But only R.O. Hardin received the funds.
Some of the money already has been spent to decrease class sizes, Gilani said. The money was used to hire additional teachers for the lower grade levels.
The rest of the money, though, will be spent under direction of the site council, she said.
“We’re not just rushing into this thing blindly,” Gilani said. “It’s going to be really key to have collaboration from all groups in the community.”
The 2007-08 school year is primarily a planning year so that the council can decide how to best spend the money to improve student achievement, Gilani said.
“It all comes down to test scores,” Gilani said. “The end goal is to improve the scores and that’s what all the plans have to be tied to.”
