RENO - More money may be coming the way of the Washoe County School District if federal grants are approved. However, that money would come at a steep price. Up to seven principals and 50 percent of their staff could be forced to leave their posts and find jobs elsewhere in the school district.

“Federal grants come with some things that you really like and some things that you really don’t,” said Heath Morrison, Washoe County School District Superintendent.

Duncan, Echo Loder, Smithridge and Veterans elementary schools could be effected as well as Clayton, Dilworth and O’Brien middle schools. These schools were not singled out for reforms by the county school district, rather they were chosen by the Nevada Department of Education.

The School Improvement Grants (SIG) will provide funds totaling $3.546 billion, which will be allocated to all states on a formula basis by the U.S. Department of Education. Nevada's portion of the SIG funds that may be awarded to eligible districts totals $22.362 million and is distributed on a competitive basis to districts through the Nevada Department of Education, according to a release from school district deputy superintendent Pedro Martinez.

However, the money would come with some stipulations. The terms of the grant would require that schools adopt one of four reform methods: turnaround, transformation, restart or closure.

The first method, turnaround, would mean cleaning house at the seven schools by replacing the principal, rehiring no more than 50 percent of the existing staff, and moving to a more data and rewards driven system, among a long list of other reforms.

By contrast, the transformation method would also mean replacing the principal, but that reform would leave open the option for the district to choose which staff, and how many of those staff, will lose their jobs due to continuously poor performance.

The final two methods, restart and closure, would involve converting schools to charter schools or closing schools altogether. According to Morrison, these final two alternatives are not options in Washoe County.

“Closure is not an option and privatization is not an option,” Morrison said. “The money wouldn’t go to the kids if you close the school.”

That leaves the district with shuffling principals and staff out of their current posts, if the WCSD decides to apply for the grant funding.

According to Morrison, the school district would do its best to find those principals and staff other positions in the administrative end of district business. However, with a hiring freeze in place, a $33 million cut on he way and no plans to create new jobs, Morrison said the positions available would have to be left vacant through attrition.

“Through attrition and reorganization we may have some positions available,” he said. “They could also pursue options at other schools.”

He added that the district may not decide to pursue the turnaround model, which would create the most staff displacement.

According to the schools chief, the rationale behind the reorganization model comes after replacing principals has been shown to help at other schools. He used Hug High School as an example, which has seen improvements in student achievement since the district hired a new principal.

The proposal was even favorably received by some of the principals who might lose their jobs.

“With the extra money we will be able to maintain and add to those programs that we implemented this year,” said Debbie Deery, principal at Echo Loder Elementary School and one of the people who stands to lose their current job if the grant is obtained.

Morrison added that simply applying for the grant is not a guarantee that the district will obtain all of it. However, discussion was positive that reform was coming for these schools.

“We want to implement reform across the district, such as embedded professional development for teachers and principals, student interventions and programs that increase student learning,” Morrison said. “This grant gives us the opportunity to do that at an accelerated pace. I see these seven schools becoming models for reform in our district. They will define what success looks like. It supports the district-wide efforts to increase student achievement and dramatically make a difference to our most disadvantaged students."

“We all know that the right thing is not always the easy thing,” Deery said. “This is for the kids. We want them to be successful.”

The school district will be scheduling meetings with parents to discuss the grants and their implications for next week.