One of the Oregon-Davis School Corporation’s sources of grant funding continues to decline. Superintendent Bill Bennett gave the school board an update last week on the Small, Rural School Achievement Program last week.
“I was a little disappointed because next school year, our amount will be $23,000. Three years ago, it was $49,000,” Bennett explained. “So we’ve seen a significant drop in that grant.”
But Bennett expected Oregon-Davis to get roughly $1 million from the latest round of federal COVID-19 relief. “We have until October of ’24 to spend it,” he said. “One of the mandates is 20 percent of that million has to go to interventions, basically catching up students.”
The school board also took action last week to earn more interest from some of the school corporation’s unused money. Bennett said the school board recently agreed to move $300,000 into the Rainy Day Fund. Since the school corporation doesn’t plan to spend any of that this year anyway, Bennett said it could earn more interest in a certificate of deposit.
“Once again, First National Bank of Monterey had the highest rate,” Bennett said. “It is 0.40 percent, but it’s paying better than our checking account through 1st Source, which is 0.10 percent.”
The school board approved the CD investment unanimously.