Cape to receive $661,000 for disadvantaged students

The Cape district’s most disadvantaged students will receive extra support thanks to new funding from the state.

At the March 28 school board meeting, Cape Superintendent Bob Fulton said the state announced a three-year, $60 million opportunity funding initiative for English-learner and low-income students.

Delaware is one of just a few states that doesn’t provide additional funding for low-income or English-learning students, he said. “It’s about time it’s occurring. This is a positive step to fund based on need.” Fulton said the number of students in each category will drive funding. Districts will receive $500 for every English-learner and $300 for every low-income student for the 2020 fiscal year.

Fulton said the district’s Sept. 30 unit count was 5,643. Among them, 445 are English-learners and 1,462 low-income students. Cape will receive $200,000 to support low-income students and $438,000 for English-learners, for a total of $661,000 for the 2020 fiscal year. Fulton said the funding amount will fluctuate slightly over the next two years based on the annual unit count.

Delaware Department of Education spokesperson Alison May said to determine funding amounts, the state looked at the total amount of funds available and the number of students currently identified as English-learner and low-income. “Given that there are some other funding options for low-income students such as Title I funding, a slightly higher amount was allocated for English-learners,” May said. “Also, note that if a child is both an English-learner and low-income, the district or charter would receive $800.”

May said opportunity funding is proposed in Gov. John Carney’s budget but still needs to be approved by the General Assembly in the new fiscal year budget.

Each year, Fulton said, the district will work with state officials to set goals for programs using the funds and measure progress. The first-year plan is in development and will be presented to the board. “They are letting us decide how we will use it, but we must be able to demonstrate we are improving the performance of students in those categories,” Fulton said.

Potential uses include additional reading and math specialists, counselors, trauma-informed training, after-school programming and smaller class sizes. Plans must be approved by the Department of Education, and authorized spending must directly benefit low-income and English-learner students.