Trenton Schools to Receive Thousands in Additional Funding

The Trenton Public School District is poised to receive over $180,000 in per-pupil grants after satisfying a new provision of the State School Aid Act.

Section 22f of the State School Aid Act, enacted by Gov. Rick Snyder in June, provides $52 per-pupil one-time grants to local school districts and public school academies for the 2012-13 school year.

To be eleigible for the grant, a district must meet seven out of eight best practices created by the Michigan Department of Education (MDE). Trenton officials have met the requirements for the grant before the deadline of June 1, 2013.

Trenton has met these best practices and are now eligible for additional funding:

1. The district is the designated policy holder for medical benefit plans.
2. The district has obtained a competitive bid on non-instructional services by awarding Dean Transportation a bid to provide district transportation and by awarding a bid to Chartwells to provide food services for the district.
3. The district accepts applications for enrollment by non-resident applicants under a new limited open enrollment policy.
4. The district monitors individual pupil academic growth in each subject area at least twice during the school year using competency based online assessments.
5. The district supports opportunities for students to receive college credit while attending high school.
6. The district offers online instructional programs or blended learning opportunities to all eligible students.
7. The district will provide a link on the district home page to the Michigan School Data Portal website.

Trenton officials hope to receive the grant money before the end of the school year.

There are about 2,664 students enrolled in Trenton Public Schools.