Seaford director outlines Title I spending plans as federal funding holds steady

Dr. Chrissy Janette, director of Seaford School District, told the board on June 15 that Title I — part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act — provides the district’s largest federal support for schools with high proportions of students from low-income families. She said every school in the district is a schoolwide Title I program and that the funds are intended to "provide additional support for a diverse population" and help close achievement gaps.

Janette said the district prioritizes using Title I primarily to add staff beyond unit counts so schools can offer smaller class sizes or extra support personnel. She also listed purchases the funds support: "high-quality instructional materials, supplemental support programs," and targeted professional development tied to HQIM (high-quality instructional materials) to maintain academic standards across classrooms.

Janette told the board the district currently expects to receive the same dollar amount in Title I funding as the prior year and invited families and community members to provide feedback about how the funds should be used through a short questionnaire distributed via a QR code on district social media channels. "Anyone who's interested in providing feedback about how Title I funds should be spent or used in our district, we will share this QR code out with in our social media platforms," she said.

Why it matters: Title I is the district’s principal federal resource for supporting students from low-income families; how the board and district allocate staffing and instructional materials affects classroom supports for students across Seaford schools. The district’s plan to keep staffing as the first priority means funds will primarily sustain or increase personnel at school sites rather than be redirected to district-office staffing.

The board did not take a separate vote on Title I allocation at the meeting; Janette said the district would post the questionnaire and return with implementation details as needed.