While Mark Zuckerberg was giving $100 million to Newark, Washington was doling out money under the $298 million federal education jobs bill. And Verona will get …. drumroll please… $47,889. Less than Caldwell, but more than Cedar Grove.
And as you might expect with money that comes from the public coffers instead of from a dotcom millionaire, the money comes with lots of strings. According to the preliminary indication that Washington has given local school board, the money must be used for employee compensation, benefits, retaining existing employees or rehiring former ones. But if Verona were to do that, it would leave us with an ongoing salary obligation that likely wouldn’t be funded by Washington in the future. Natch.
So Verona is hoping to use the money for staff training that the Board of Education otherwise would not be able to afford. The plans might be on the BOE’s agenda as early as tonight’s meeting. If you want to see the full list of who got what, it’s here.
