Grant to Fund Repairs, Equipment at Schools

Students and teachers of the Orange Unified School District will receive the benefits of a one-time block grant from the state.

Uses for the $1.325-million grant, awarded last year from surplus educational funds, were agreed upon by trustees last week after informal negotiations with teachers’ groups.

Teachers had originally agreed with district administrators on the need for technological and safety equipment and repairs to the district’s deteriorating heating and cooling systems.

However, they had asked that some of the funds be left to the discretion of individual schools and teachers.

As a result, $350,000 will go into a “site-based priorities” fund.

The staff at each of the district’s 36 schools will decide whether to allocate $100 to each teacher for classroom materials or pool the money for a school-wide purchase.

A committee of parents and staff will decide how to spend the joint funds.

The board voted unanimously last Thursday on the division of the money.

Teachers will also be able to dip into a fund of $100,000 to create an extra class period when enrollment for a specific subject is too large.

District administrators have allocated $200,000 to buy emergency equipment, including $93,000 to upgrade a districtwide emergency communications system.

School councils or technology committees will decide how to spend the $375,000 set aside for instructional technology, another area where different schools have vastly different needs, administrators said. And $300,000 will go to fund repairs to heaters and air conditioners that consistently break down.