Hillsborough County Public Schools Business
Action Item

DATE: Tuesday, October 21, 2008
TO: School Board Members
FROM: MaryEllen Elia, Superintendent

SUBJECT / RECOMMENDATIONS

Approve $123,428 Payment to the University of South Florida (USF) for Services Associated with Their Partnership in Hillsborough County Public Schools (HCPS) Smaller Learning Communities Grant (SLC), Project #S215L070536. (Student Services and Federal Programs Division)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) awarded $9,549,227 to HCPS for the District’s SLC grant project, entitled Tomorrow’s Leaders. The purpose of the program is to support activities to improve student academic achievement in large public high schools with enrollments of 1,000 or more students. The following high schools are included in the grant: Armwood, Brandon, Durant, Hillsborough, Jefferson, King, Riverview, and Robinson. The District’s Supervisor for Academic Programs serves as Project Director for this grant. The awarded amount for year two of the five year project is $1,872,077. Of this total amount, $114,790 is for project services rendered by USF. Faculty and staff from USF College of Education’s Anchin Center, through the Tampa Bay Educational Partnership, a formal partnership between the District and the University, are providing a Documentation Analysis and Technical Assistance (DATA) team, which will meet with both the project leadership and the individual schools on at least a quarterly basis to assist both groups in data analysis and interpretation. The DATA team will communicate regularly with the Internal and External Evaluator and will play a dynamic role in project decision making. Year two of the project begins October 1, 2008, and ends September 30, 2009.

ANNUAL DISTRICT GOAL(S) AND CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTOR(S)

* Demonstrate consistent and effective teaching methods

FINANCIAL IMPACT (Budgeted: No)

Funding for this project is provided by U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) Smaller Learning Communities (SLC) grant, Project # S215L070536. HCPS is the grant’s fiscal agent, and project funds reside with the District.

EVALUATION

Under the terms of the grant, HCPS is responsible for project evaluation. Copies of the annual reports and final evaluation report will be provided to the District Office of Assessment and Accountability. The anticipated date for the annual report for year two is December 30, 2009.

SUBMITTED BY: Lynn Fell, Grants and Research Operations Officer

Gwendolyn L. Luney
Assistant Superintendent, Student Services and Federal Programs
(813) 272-4879
Gretchen Saunders
Chief Business Officer
(813) 272-4270
A 5.06
Hillsborough County Public Schools (Florida) * Mtg.#20081021_302 * Section A Item# 5.06