ARLINGTON — Teachers in the cash-strapped Arlington school district often have stories of buying their own supplies.
But, Pope Elementary art teacher Neina Chapman’s purchase was a big one.
Chapman wanted a $650 projection camera to show students how to weave and draw. She knew the school couldn’t afford it, so she asked her husband to buy it for her at Christmas.
"It was just so easy to show the kids how to do something, and they could all see it," she said. "Every teacher should have one."
Pope Principal Celina Kilgore said that kind of dedication is part of what makes the school great. And now, teachers like Chapman may see a little more financial help for the school and its 700 students.
Pope is likely to be designated a Title I school next year, qualifying it to get extra federal funding because of its high percentage of students on free and reduced-rate lunches. The money can be used for tutoring, updating technology and other needs.
That news has some teachers like Chapman excited about getting an extra $130,000, but it has been met with concerns and questions from some in the community.
Neighbors and parents at Pope have met twice with school officials to talk about what exactly a Title I designation will mean to their neighborhood. Neighbors have expressed fears that property values would drop, and not all of their questions have been met with concrete answers.
Hank Jacobs went to Pope and has two children there. He said that he wants the best for the school, but that he hopes that being Title I doesn’t stigmatize the school. And, what if the district’s calculations are wrong and Pope doesn’t really deserve the money?.
"I feel very strongly that people, if they need help, then they need to get help, but if people take help just because they can reach out and grab it, then they’re keeping other people that really need help from getting it," he said.
Changing demographics
Having an Arlington neighborhood school receiving Title I funds isn’t uncommon. The district is increasingly being called upon to meet the needs of low-income students, with the number of free and reduced-rate lunches rising more than 10 percent from October 2002 to October 2008.
Thirty-two of the district’s 52 elementary schools are designated Title I, with three added since 2006. According to the latest numbers available, 58.7 percent of Arlington’s 63,000 students are on the federal free and reduced-lunch program. That number has been rising for years.
Numbers at Pope have risen steadily. In September, the percentage of students receiving free and reduced rate meals went to 61 percent, well above the district’s 55 percent cutoff for Title I funding. Kilgore, who has been at Pope for 10 years, wasn’t surprised by the growing numbers.
"From the very beginning, when I first came here, I noticed our school was very diverse, not just ethnically but economically," Kilgore said.
Arlington schools are operating on a $16.8 million budget shortfall this year, leaving Pope with aging library books and classroom computers that are as much as nine years old. Still, Pope’s reputation is strong. It has been a state-recognized school for five years while receiving awards from state and national groups.
PTA President Betsy Bauer, mother of a third-grader, said she worries about the potential effect on home prices if the school becomes Title I. County officials said there’s no automatic adjustment in home appraisals for Title I schools, and any effect would depend on buyers’ and sellers’ perceptions.
"I love Pope Elementary. I love their staff. I love the teachers. My children have thrived there," Bauer said. "As a homeowner, I am concerned because my home is three blocks away."
Other concerns
Jacobs and Bauer are also concerned that an audit of families qualifying for free or reduced lunches is faulty. To qualify for free lunches, a family of four must make at or below $27,560; for reduced lunches, the threshold is $39,220 or less. By federal law, the district can request verification only from 3 percent of the people on the program.
This year, that audit included 417 families’ applications. Twenty-nine percent did not respond to requests and were automatically dropped. When responses were analyzed, 19 percent no longer met the income requirements.
Jacobs and Bauer wonder that if 48 percent of the audit sample had to be dropped because they couldn’t or wouldn’t provide qualifying income information, what do those results say about the accuracy of the numbers at Pope?
School officials defend the results. They say the 19 percent who were disqualified possibly got a job or a raise after they applied. Officials also don’t know why the 29 percent didn’t respond, said Jackie Anderson, the district’s food service director.
And, Anderson points out that about 33 percent of families on free lunches are "direct-certified," meaning that they got on the program because they get other government assistance that requires income proof.
What now?
School district leaders will decide this month what to do at Pope.
"What we don’t want to happen is we add a Title I school and then their numbers change or drop and we have to remove them from Title I," Deputy Superintendent Marcelo Cavazos said. "It’s a significant impact to the school in terms of how they use the funds."
Teachers and administrators at Pope have already begun training on how to implement Title I status. Part of the preparation will be a needs assessment to determine how the money should be spent.
Jim Labenz, incoming president of the Pope Dads’ Club, said he feels that becoming a Title I school is a good thing.
"If we qualify, it only makes sense to use all of the resources we can to provide everything we can for the education of our children," he said.
Read more in the Fort Worth Star Telegram
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