Franklin Community Schools will suspend its 10x grant program, which teachers and staff members used for professional development opportunities around the world.
The decision, approved by the school board in April, will mean a halt to school-sponsored trips during the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years. Since 2016, Franklin schools has used money from a partnership with Johnson Memorial Health to send at least 20 teachers, principals and school counselors each year to domestic and international destinations, according to the school district’s website.
That includes about $100,000 set aside each year for teachers and about $30,000 for support staff. The grants were for up to $5,000 per person, meaning if trips are cheaper than that amount, it increases the chances of more people being awarded grants, Superintendent David Clendening said.
Franklin schools awarded the grants to 20 to 30 people each year, and the temporary savings from not awarding grants for a two-year period will give Franklin schools a cushion it desperately needs as it awaits the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. If payments on non-escrow accounts are delayed, the district could lose $6.7 million in the worst-case scenario, Chief Financial Officer Tina Jobe-Gross said.
Trips scheduled this summer were postponed due to travel concerns amid the pandemic. The trips were intended to help teachers and other staff members improve their instruction through cultural and educational experiences. The 35 scheduled trips included U.S. destinations such as California, Florida, Montana and New England, as well as international treks to Peru, Singapore, Germany and Curacao, according to school documents.
Those trips are postponed, rather than canceled, meaning people who were awarded 10x grants will still have the opportunity to make the trip when it’s safe, Clendening said.
“Hopefully by next May, we’re hugging trees and people. But for now, we’re six feet apart and we’re wearing our masks,” Clendening said. “(The grants) were already awarded and we’re still going to honor them.”
