Anamosa Schools to Receive Microsoft Funds
The Anamosa Community School District learned last week that it will receive a total of $231,635.26 from the Iowa Schools Microsoft Settlement. Final budget allocations were released on December 8, 2009. This money is intended for software, hardware, and professional development related to technology and is the result of a lawsuit brought against Microsoft several years ago.
Each of our buildings will receive a portion of these funds. The
distribution was based on grade level, percent of students on
free/reduced lunch, and number of students in the building. The
breakdown of funds for our district is as follows:
| Strawberry Hill Elementary | $ 90,033.16 |
| West Middle School | $ 47,987.22 |
| Anamosa High School | $ 93,614.88 |
Before any of this money can be spent, each building must submit a
plan to the Department of Education. The plan must identify one
area of the Iowa Core Curriculum that will be emphasized as well as
a budget for hardware, software, and professional development. Once
the plan is approved, then the funds can be spent. The
deadline for the plan is May 11, 2010. Building principals and
Building Leadership Teams are responsible for creating these plans.
The technology director, IT specialist, and technology committee
will also provide input.
The funds will come to the school in the form of vouchers - one for hardware and another for software. The school will purchase items as indicated in the plan and then will be reimbursed through the voucher system. The spending can be spread out over a period of three years, as the vouchers are good through August 2013.
Once the plan has been implemented, building principals will be responsible for collecting and submitting data that indicates student achievement is improving in the selected Iowa Core area.
To learn more about the Iowa Schools Microsoft Settlement go
to
http://iowaschoolmicrosoftsettlement.com/default.aspx
