Kentucky's Low Achieving Schools Gets Another Year of Federal Funds

Kentucky’s low-achieving schools are receiving another round of federal School Improvement Grant funding.Forty-one Kentucky schools have been called persistently low-achieving under the No Child Left Behind standards, and they can use the federal SIG funds to implement models to help turn around student achievement. Only the first cohort, or group, of schools deemed low-achieving was guaranteed a full three years of federal support.The $8.4 million announced this week will support nearly twelve schools state-wide in the second group of schools, including seven JCPS schools.This new round of federal funds will support one year of funding for the second group of Kentucky’s low-achieving schools.Kentucky Department of Education spokeswoman Lisa Gross said Congress hasn’t allocated full funding for the second and third groups of schools.“The decision that we’re waiting on now is any further money for, for instance, the last group of persistently low achieving schools that were identified," she said.The third and latest group of schools deemed low-achieving, including five JCPS middle schools, has not been guaranteed any funding so far.