Penn Hills School District receives boosted grant through state Department of Education
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Penn Hills School District officials are working on a plan to use an estimated $1.1 million grant through the state Department of Education.
The district was awarded a little more than $850,000 in a Ready to Learn Block Grant earlier this year.
Officials announced in November they were able to get an additional $250,000 in grant funding with the help of state Sen Jay Costa, D-Forest Hills.
“Any money we get helps the district help educate our children the way we need to educate them,” school board president Erin Vecchio said Nov. 22. “Right now, public schools don’t get funded the way they’re supposed to get funded.
“Every time (Costa) gets us a grant, it helps us compete with everyone else in the world. Jay’s one of the best men for Penn Hills that we could ask for. He’s dedicated his life to helping kids and education. The people of Penn Hills appreciate him for sure.”
Ready to Learn grants can be used for a variety of projects and programs from career awareness, library assistance, hybrid learning, world languages in elementary schools, curriculum alignment, professional development and STEM education initiatives. STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Superintendent Nancy Hines said the district had planned to use the original $850,000 grant for some of the aforementioned efforts, and is exploring some “creative applications” for Linton Middle School’s gymnasium and auditorium with left over funds and grant boost.
“We are just verifying that it is compliant spending,” said Hines about possible Linton upgrades. “Those are spaces we share with the community.”
Hines thanked Costa for his continued support, and noted his various visits with staff and students.
Costa said Nov. 22 that the financial boost was possible with the help of the late state Rep. Tony DeLuca, D-Penn Hills, who passed away Oct. 9 at age 85.
DeLuca represented the 32nd Legislative District for 39 years. The district includes Penn Hills, Verona, the majority of Plum Borough and Oakmont.
Costa commended the former public servant for being able to advocate for Penn Hills while dealing with health issues.
“We recognize that Penn Hills has been advancing, and meeting the criteria for the Ready to Learn Grant,” Costa said. “It’s a district that’s working toward addressing its financial issues (and) at the same time continuing to improve in the academic space as well. This (grant) helps them continue to be able to move in that direction on both fronts.”
As far as what to do with the boosted grant, Costa said he would deferred those decisions to district officials.
“I trust the judgment of the school board and the superintendent to be able to make those decisions,” he said. “I think they know best where to put these resources more so than I do from afar.
“As long as they go to working to enhancing student performance, to better prepare students for a future that would allow them the opportunity to be successful, to me that’s the primary purpose of those resources. I trust how they would actually deploy those dollars to be able to do that.”