Stimulus bill has east metro schools wishing and hoping

Forest Lake Elementary School needs a new roof; White Bear Lake schools would like help with an aquatics facility; and South Washington County wants a wind turbine.

These east suburban schools and many others are assembling wish lists of overdue maintenance, long sought upgrades and projects that can save energy or make buildings more "green." They're also asking for funds to improve their technology underpinnings -- wireless networks and teaching gadgets, and the training to use them more effectively.

"It's a hot topic right now," says Mia Urick, spokeswoman for the Minnesota Association of School Administrators, which has been encouraging school districts to list their projects and then sending them on to lawmakers.

It's all part of the initial ground level response to President Obama's stimulus plan that would pump massive amounts of money into education, following his campaign promise to bolster schools and expand the use of technology to battle global warming, while saving old jobs and creating new ones.

All told, the proposed plan would increase federal spending on child care and education by $150 billion over two years. As currently written, the bill would give $240 million to Minnesota for school facilities construction projects.

More money would be available for programs, including, for example, $5.4 million for the North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale School District for its special education and Title I programs that help kids from low-income families.

"It would probably increase our staffing or preserve some of our Title I staffing," said Paul Brashear, district Title I coordinator. The North St. Paul district, like many others, is dealing with budget cuts from failed tax levy ballot measures and the state's budget deficit.

The list runs from instructional programs that would help teachers identify and address learning deficiencies in the youngest students ($36,000), to all-day kindergarten ($910,000) and training teachers ($42,500) to use Smart Boards, which help them convey complex information more easily.

It has not yet been determined how the funds will be disbursed, nor is it certain what criteria the federal and state governments will use to decide which projects will be funded. The stimulus bill that passed in the U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday is likely to be changed before final approval.

That's why South Washington County School District decided against prioritizing its list of projects and programs. "Many of the projects are of the kind we've already done in other buildings, and can be done quickly," said Mike Vogel, assistant superintendent for operations in the district. Those include new windows and new roofs in several buildings.

The district also wants to ramp up the installation of wireless Internet in the nine elementary, three middle schools and one high school that don't already have it ($1.1 million). Its request also includes funding for a 250 kilowatt wind turbine ($1.5 million) and a community arts center, ($2.2 million).

Other districts, including Forest Lake, have made more modest requests. Its list of window and roof replacement work on four of its buildings carries a $500,000 price tag.

State Department of Education officials aren't indicating how they will handle the funding requests for the money.

"Some school districts have taken the initiative to send us lists of possible local uses for potential federal stimulus dollars," an Education Department spokesman said. "We are looking forward to reviewing the final versions of the stimulus bills so that we can then determine their impact on Minnesota schools."