Approve $36,985 Payment to the University of South Florida for Services Associated with Their Partnership in Hillsborough County Public Schools Smaller Learning Communities (SLC) grant, Project #S215L070536 (Student Services and Federal Programs Division)

The U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) awarded $9,549,227 to Hillsborough County Public Schools (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 awarded amount for year one of the five-year project is $1,872,077. Of this total amount, $36,985 is for project services rendered by the University of South Florida (USF). Dr. Patty McHatton, an expert in service learning, will deliver service learning staff development to teachers at the SLC schools (see attachment for list of schools). This will support the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship service hours requirement for students at the targeted schools. Additionally, Dr. McHatton and her staff will provide ongoing support, both face-to-face and online, to participating teachers as they implement service learning projects in their classrooms. Year one of the project began October 1, 2007, and ends September 30, 2008.

GOAL 6 - All schools in the District will be assigned a state grade of A, B, or C (accomplish goals and critical success factors for goals 1-5).

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.

Under the terms of the grant, HCPS is responsible for project evaluation. A copy of the annual reports and final evaluation report will be provided to HCPS Office of Assessment and Accountability. The anticipated date for the annual report for year one is December 30, 2008.