ROCK SPRINGS –– Grants are a major piece of Sweetwater County School District No. 1 ‘s budget, comprising of a total $7,285,696.23 in the current budget.
The district’s board of trustees learned about the different grants provided to the district Monday evening. Jessica Libbee, the district’s director of grants and federal programs, said grants help leverage the district’s resources for funding academic achievement for all students, supports student success, and supports school change by improving the quality and effectiveness of educators and school administrators.
Libbee said there will be a community input meeting April 9 to discuss grants. Libbee said the meeting will likely take place around 5 p.m. and will likely be at the district’s Central Administration Building.
Overall, Libbee said the district lost its COVID-19 grant funds in September, saying that loss will be huge for the district. Year to year, Libbee said the district is solid as far as the amount of grant funding the district has lost compared to what it was awarded.
Title IA funding, which amounts to $2.23 million this year, seeks to improve academic enrichment. Libbee said six elementary schools and the district’s preschool qualify for Title 1 funding. Each school has at least one Title 1 teacher, with larger schools having more, to help students who need more support. The funds also go to uses such as classroom resources and family engagement nights, as well as teacher training. The qualification for Title 1 funding is dependent on the number of students who qualify for free or reduced lunches.
Title ID funding focuses on neglected and delinquent students. The district received $207,717.04 for the 2024-2025 year. The funding supports programs aimed at students either at risk of not graduating or dropping out. It supports students at the Sweetwater County Detention Center and the county’s youth home, as well as students in the district’s credit recovery program.
Title IIA grant funding aims to improve teacher and leader quality. The district received $588,085.61 for the current budget year and provides funding for professional development, recruitment and retention, and support staff. Libbee said the grant funds partial salaries for an academic and behavior specialist and a K-12 curriculum and assessment specialist.
Title III grants amount to $52, 318.57 and supports English language learners. The funds help students learning English as a second language and assist them in meeting the same academic content and achievement standards other students have. It is used to facilitate parental involvement, professional development, funds a parent-teacher liaison, and provides instructional materials for schools.
The district received $1.63 million through the WYBILT grant this year, the final year WYBILT funding will be available to the district. The grant focuses on literacy throughout K-12 classes. It funds literacy interventionists, as well as English literacy teachers, instructional materials and professional development.
“This is going to be a big hit, because we will no longer have these funds after Sept. 30,” Libbee said.
Libbee said the grant support “six or seven salaries” within the district. The district is working to keep these services available utilizing different “buckets of money,” according to Libbee.
The Title IVA grants provide for student support and academic enrichment. The district received $294,174.83 in grant funds this year, with funding aiming to help provide students with a well-rounded education, ensuring the health and safety of students, and improving the use of technology within the district. It is used for virtual education, as well as health and safety needs, and provides the district with partial salaries for some employees.
The Perkins V grant focuses on career and technical education (CTE), with the district receiving $155,801.51 in funding for the current year. Libbee said the money goes to upgrading equipment and modernizing technical education programs. Libbee said there is tremendous support within the community for CTE programs, as the grant doesn’t provide a lot of funding for it.
“For the CTE programs that we have, $155,000 is not that much money,” Libbee said.
The 21st Century grant provides the district with funding for its after school programs and summer programs. The district received $225,000 during the 2024-2025 budget year and includes programs like Community Connections, organizing and pays for a coordinator to help establish Community Connections and other programs.
Libbee said BOCES, (The Board of Cooperative Education Services) is an enormous supporter of the district. The district received $409,580 from BOCES this year. The funding provides educational opportunities not available within the district, which includes CTE certification tests, driver’s education, Community Connections, and concurrent enrollment opportunities at Western Wyoming Community College.
Libbee said the district has two new grants in the Early Head Start and TANF grants. The district received $512,256 in Early Head Start funding, which Libbee said allowed the district to enroll an additional 32 students in the zero-to-three daycare. The daycare program provides care for low-income families within the district. The TANF grant allows the district to expand its preschool program for children aged three to five years. The district received $100,000 in TANF funding.
Other grants include a Cutting-Edge Grant amounting to $24,741.50 to provide drones for the school district, a K-12 mental health grant amounting to $291,000, and a SAMHSA/TISS mental health grant amounting to $514,000.
