State restores $1.9M to Roosevelt schools

The state education department has restored about $1.9 million in school improvement grant funding for Roosevelt schools after the state agency accepted the district's teacher evaluation and support plans.

"This proves that districts and teachers can get it done," Education Commissioner John B. King said in a statement also announcing that the Yonkers school district had its funding restored.

"After SIG funding was suspended in January, these districts went back to the drawing board and worked out agreements that meet the state and federal requirements," he said.

Roosevelt officials could not be reached for comment.

The restoration means Roosevelt and Yonkers will receive their 2011-12 SIG funding. The money was withheld after the schools' 2011-12 applications for funding were approved. The money was contingent on the districts' ability to show state officials how they would meet requirements for a new teacher and administrator evaluation system.

The good news for the two districts came after state education officials restored school improvement grant funding for five other districts that were facing the same circumstances: Poughkeepsie, Syracuse, Rochester, Albany and Schenectady.

States distribute the funding to underperforming schools under the condition that they strive to improve student achievement using federal Department of Education models.

Roosevelt board member Alfred T. Taylor has said the funding is critical for Roosevelt's success.

"For a school system like Roosevelt, those grants are key to our achievement," Taylor said in December. "We are not a reserve-heavy or revenue-heavy district, so it's instrumental."