Nearly $10 million is on its way to Washoe County School District.
The school district found out Thursday that it received another Teacher Incentive Fund or TIF grant from the U.S., Department of Education.
The money will be divided among nine Washoe County schools to help them develop their Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) programs.
This is the second TIF grant the school district has won, which administrators say is very unusual. But they have a whole team devoted to applying for this type of federal grant, and their hard work paid off again this year.
The money will help the nine chosen schools set up a "pay for performance" system for teachers, as well as fund more teacher development in science and technology, and purchase some new equipment.
After years of severe budget cuts administrators at the district office are celebrating the financial boost.
"One of our representatives on the Teachers in Leadership Council was actually in a meeting when I sent the award notification, and she said that she actually jumped out of her chair," WCSD Chief of Staff Kristen McNeill said. "So that's basically what I did in the superintendent's office this morning."
McNeill said the grant team is currently putting together an application for more federal funding, this time for a "Race to the Top" grant, which would provide $40 million to the district over four years.
Written by Arianna Bennett
