JACKSON, Tenn — (November 19, 2014)–  The Montessori School of Bemis parents were relieved to learn that the school will keep 14 teaching assistants for the remainder of the school year after school board members approve a plan to address comparability issues.

At a Wednesday special called meeting, the Jackson-Madison County School Board voted to approve a plan that will keep the district school in compliance with Title I guidelines, evenly distributing funding for resources at each school as required by law.

After discussions with the State Department of Education, the school officials were allowed to create a temporary plan that splits the elementary schools into two groups, small schools and large schools based on population.

The plan calls for changes in budget line items and redistribution of federal versus local dollars. According to the approved plan, some school employees who were funded with local dollars will now be paid with federal funds, others who were paid with federal funds will be paid with local funds.

Details also call for hiring a teaching assistant for half a year at South Elementary School. The plan also relies on reallocating the funding source of special-education teachers in some schools.

The funding of two special-education teachers at The Montessori School of Bemis will be transferred to non-Title I federal funding, which will exempt those teachers from the Title I comparability equation.

The state told the school system that because of the compliance issue.if a solution was not reached quickly, any additional dollars being requested could be questioned. The system has applied for Priority School grants.

Department of Education officials have already tentatively approved the formula presented to the school board. The agreement will resolve the problem for the remainder of the school year. School officials will have to find a permanent solution to stay in compliance with Title I comparability regulations.