Staff Reports
Twenty-one Clifty Creek Elementary School teachers are sharing $105,671.46 in state grant funding, distributed to educators who were rated highly effective during the 2015-2016 school year on their performance evaluations.
The money is part of nearly $2 million approved by the Indiana State Budget Committee in June under the Excellence in Performance Grant program.
School districts applying for the grant needed to be a Title I Focus or Priority school, serving a high percentage of children from low-income households and receiving financial assistance to help ensure that students meet academic standards. The state Department of Education reports that 79.2 percent of Clifty Creek students were eligible for free- or reduced-price lunches during the 2016-2017 school year.
In order to be eligible for a share of the Excellence in Performance Grant, teachers must be rated highly effective and be currently employed at the school when the grants are distributed, Superintendent Jim Roberts said. Clifty Creek had 27 total teachers during the 2015-2016 school year.
This was the third straight year that Clifty Creek teachers were awarded grant funds through this program, although this year’s amount was greater.
From the original share of $5,031.95 each, payments of $4,258 after deductions were made to the teachers in their Sept. 1 pay checks, Roberts said.
