<br>TPS, other Lucas County schools to receive $17.2 million in emergency stimulus money

BY CHRISTOPHER D. KIRKPATRICK
BLADE STAFF WRITER

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Toledo Public Schools will receive about $7.6 million in emergency stimulus money in the next month or so to possibly recall laid off bus drivers, among other school system employees.

The money cannot be used to buy gas, pay for bus maintenance, or to cover other portions of the school district's operating budget under pressure because of deficits.

Ohio's share of the federal appropriation is about $360 million. In Lucas County, it's estimated at $17.2 million.

Local school officials have been waiting for several weeks to learn how much their share would be.

New TPS Superintendent Jerome Pecko said earlier this month that he wanted to use the money to restore bus rides to school for some of the 5,000 students whose service was cut to help close a $39 million budget deficit.

He said the district probably wouldn't use it to rehire teachers because of an expected decline in enrollment this school year. That official enrollment number comes out in October.

The federal money comes from legislation signed into law earlier this month by President Obama.

It provides $10 billion for states to curtail layoffs of teachers and other school employees. The Ohio Department of Education says it can be used this school year and also next school year.

Ohio school districts and charter schools learned

Tuesday how much federal stimulus money they'll receive from a jobs bill

approved by Congress in early August. The bill was designed to save about

160,000 jobs nationwide over the next two years.

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SOURCE:

href="http://ilrc.ode.state.oh.us/">Ohio Department of

Education

It also included $16 billion to help cover state Medicaid payments.

The legislation is designed to save the jobs of approximately 160,000 teachers across the nation, according to Democratic leaders.

The application deadline for Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland to access the cash is Sept. 9.

But the Ohio Department of Education released the breakdown Tuesday afternoon of how much it predicts each school district will receive using the state's existing school funding formula.

Ohio Districts and charter schools will start receiving their money by late September, at the latest.

They will first receive 75 percent of the predicted amount and then the rest after an adjustment is made in November to make sure all the schools on the list still exist and actually received money.

In another bit of good news for the school district, Lucas County Commissioner Tina Skeldon Wozniak announced Tuesday she and fellow commissioners want to use $500,000 from another pot of federal money to provide TARTA bus service for about 1,700 students who attend class in especially dangerous areas because of traffic.

Contact Christopher D. Kirkpatrick at:

ckirkpatrick@theblade.com

or 419-724-6134.

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