The Niagara Falls City School District Board reviewed a package of resolutions accepting roughly $10,535,788 in grants and entitlements that fund early‑childhood, academic and mental‑health programs across the district.

Chair (S1) told the board the resolutions include a $4.3 million Pre‑K grant now administered by Miss Buckman and an Early College Smart Scholars award of $112,000, about $60,000 of which will go to ARC to pay for college courses. The district reported current federal entitlements of roughly $5.1 million in Title I funding, $476,000 in Title II and $397,000 in Title IV.

Several grant‑funded contracts were described in detail. The student mental‑health supports grant will pay for a set of district contracts (agenda items 6‑11 through 6‑15) that continue Modi Cox’s program across six schools to serve approximately 230 students and coordinate with extended‑day and 21st‑century programs. Chair said, "That is to keep Modi with us in 6 schools. He'll service 230 kids." The grant will also fund a girls’ empowerment program serving about 120 students at three schools led by Pastor Makita Brooks, Best Self services for an estimated 150 students and families districtwide, and a Hispanic student outreach contract for roughly 95 Hispanic students with Jose Garcia providing culturally and linguistically targeted support.

District staff noted that the grant requires an evaluator and that evaluation reports must be submitted to the state to continue drawdown of funds. In response to a board question about metrics, Mister Loring was told the evaluator measures attendance, behavioral incidents and academic indicators; staff said they would provide the evaluation instrument to board members.

Funding for special education and related services also appeared in the packet. Chair said the district will use special‑education grant funds for autism support training across 16 classes and to pay a consultant from Kinesis College. For Head Start, the board will consider a $10,000 amendment that moves an equipment line to a safety‑officer salary line; chair clarified that no new Head Start funds are being requested but that Head Start program rules require amendments to be routed through the governing body.

Other grant‑funded items include Saturday Academy programming, a teacher‑resource center course (F‑code grant) and a $9,000 rental to provide space for a BOCES literacy zone and GED program. Chair emphasized these are grant or entitlement funds and not new recurring local tax levies.

The board previewed the resolutions and supporting documents and was invited to request more detail before the formal votes scheduled for the regular meeting.

What happens next: the board will review full resolutions and supporting evaluation documents ahead of the formal vote on the listed items.