Alaska says school improvement grant reviews are delayed by staffing gaps

Alaska districts that applied in July for federal school improvement money are still waiting, the state education department told them this week, because the office handling the reviews is short-staffed. Its administrator has been on maternity leave since July, and a new school improvement program manager started in August.

The money goes to schools the state has identified as needing the most help, either across the board or for particular groups of students, based on low graduation rates, test scores in the bottom five percent, or results for specific student groups. Alaska's most recent list names 136 schools.

The funds were allocated July 1 but sit in the state's grants system until a district's improvement plan is approved. Districts filed three-year plans and budgets in May, and their next funding request is due Sept. 30. They need initial approval by Oct. 31 before they can ask for first-quarter money.

Those dates have not moved. The department said reviews normally take 10 working days, but did not give a revised schedule or say how the existing deadlines apply to the applications still sitting in the queue.