CEDAR FALLS - Over the course of the next two years federal stimulus money will fund several new ventures in the Cedar Falls Community School District, according to the plan presented Monday to the Board of Education.

In all, the district received nearly $3.1 million under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Of that, nearly $2.2 million will be used to cover the shortfall in state aid for the 2008-09 and 2009-10 school years. The district still will have to use about $600,000 in cash reserves to cover the remaining deficit.

Superintendent David Stoakes and Doug Nefzger, the district's director of business affairs, worked for several months to come up with a list they said was data driven and did not add any recurring costs to the budget.

Headlining the list of new projects was the addition of two instructional math and reading coaches at the district's four Title 1 elementary buildings and new elementary social studies books.

Cindi McDonald, the district's director of elementary education, said the instructional coaches will work closely with teachers to find better ways to reach out to students who are underperforming. The coaches also will train teachers, who will then be able to use the same tools once the positions are eliminated in 2011. The district will spend about $270,000 funding the two positions for two years, using all the money allotted for Title 1 programs.

The district also was allotted about $618,800 for special education expenses; however, more than $311,000 could be diverted to the general education fund, as long as the district did not decrease its special education budget from the previous year.

Stoakes said the district will spend about $102,000 to hire an additional special education teacher for Hansen Elementary for the next two years. At the end of the two years the cost will be transferred to the special education budget.

The district also plans on using about $40,000 to cover costs associated with the Phase 1 program, which helps fund a minimum starting teacher's salary, for both general and special education teachers. More than $13 million was cut from the program in the final hours of last year's legislative session, after most districts had already certified their budgets.

"It doesn't amount to much per teacher, but we felt it was the right thing to do," Stoakes said.

The district also will use the money to complete an achievement gap assessment, collaborate with AEA 267 and Waverly-Shell Rock to hire an instructional services coordinator, purchase elementary special education materials, fund an after-school program providing academic assistance at the secondary level and pay for additional teacher training.