WATERFORD - Wolf Creek Local Schools hopes to join with 19 other Ohio school districts for a shot at their share of millions of dollars in grant funding to help with dual enrollment and blended learning classes.
The Wolf Creek Local Board of Education voted 5-0 Monday to allow board President Hugh Arnold to sign the application, due later this month, along with Superintendent Bob Caldwell and the president of the district's teachers union, for additional federal Race to the Top money.
"It fit beautifully with where we are and where we want to go," Caldwell said.
Approximately 900 schools across the country are seeking the money, Caldwell said. Wolf Creek needs to ally itself with other schools in a consortium- with whom it would split as much as $4 million- because a minimum of 2,500 students and 40 percent free and reduced lunch eligibility are required.
The district can meet neither of those thresholds on its own.
Caldwell said the consortium is expected to consist of 10 schools in the Ohio Appalachian Collaborative and 10 schools that do not participate in that group, but are still in the Appalachian region. Warren Local Schools has expressed interest, he said.
Dual enrollment allows students to receive college credit for classes they take on their own campus. The blended learning option combines online and traditional classes.
Caldwell said one possibility would be to take advantage of the expertise of a teacher at another participating school to provide a specialized class, like physics, without students leaving their home school.
In other business, the board unanimously approved allowing Steve Littler and Scott Miller to continue to serve as volunteer indoor track coaches for the upcoming season, with practices starting in December and meets beginning in January.
Miller said half a dozen students participated last year and some freshmen have expressed interest this year.
The indoor track program was added last year in an effort to give outdoor athletes more time to prepare and practice.
"I think it's an excellent program for the kids," board member Tom Kearns said.
* The board approved paying a $1,600 bill to Westerville-based Julian & Grube Inc., which audited the district's Medicaid reimbursements and recovered an additional $8,000 it was owed. Schools can be reimbursed by Medicaid for services like speech therapy, physical therapy and nursing provided to eligible students.
