Did Westerville benefit from any of the economic stimulus dollars from the federal government?
(Return to questions list.) A. Westerville City Schools is projected over a two-year period to receive $1.4 million in stimulus dollars to be used for Title I programs (targeted toward low-income students) and $2.7 million in stimulus dollars to be used for compliance with Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (targeted toward special needs students). While these dollars will most certainly help the district strengthen its Title I and IDEA programs, these funds have very little impact on our General Fund budget. That is because they are considered “grant funding” and are accounted for outside of the General Fund budget. Furthermore, these dollars are very restrictive in their use and primarily must fund new programming and support in these specified areas. As a result, the anticipated $4.1 million in Federal stimulus dollars does very little to address the district’s General Fund revenue shortfall.
