The Marysville School District has been awarded a $1,050,000 literacy grant from the Ohio Department of Education.
The district was one of 35 in the state to receive a Comprehensive Literacy State Development Grant, funded by $42 million from the U.S. Department of Education. Awards ranged from just under $400,000 to $2.1 million.
“We are thrilled to be chosen among our peers to receive this competitive grant,” Superintendent Diane Allen said in a press release. “By receiving these funds, it’s an acknowledgement that our current work on reading instruction and literacy instruction is among the best. According to ODE, we are a model district.”
The grants were given to districts large and small, as well as various educational resource centers across the state. Columbus City Schools received $1.4 million, while Youngstown received $1.9 million, Toledo $1.4 million and Cleveland $393,000.
Very few other central Ohio schools received money, with Marion, $918,000, Heath, $1 million, and Galion, $393,000 being the nearest.
The money Marysville received will be split equally between the high school and middle school levels. The grant will be distributed evenly over four years, beginning in the upcoming school year.
Allen said the money fund purchases of curriculum, instructional materials, high interest reading content, books and professional development to ensure accurate word recognition, reading fluency and language comprehension.
She said money will also be used to support projects fostering community partnerships to equip families with the appropriate strategies and resources they need to support student learning at home, such as access to books.
Allen said the grant allows flexibility to hire staff to support professional development for teachers and other support positions, but those decisions would be made in the future by district and building-level officials.
Although the grant is targeted at older students, younger students will also benefit. According to the release, the state money allows the district to reinvest current resources into literacy and reading programming at the elementary level.
“Marysville School has been recognized as a national leader in providing a high quality and effective literacy curriculum,” Allen said. “These additional funds will help us build upon the great work by our staff and really enhance our core literacy instruction at all grade levels.”