The Newton School District’s Budget is currently a little better thanks to a grant this summer from the Iowa Department of Education. Tim Bloom, the District’s Director of Business Services, told the school board last night that a $100,000 grant in late May covered expenses from a new Summer Reading Camp at Emerson Hough Elementary.

“We’re pleasantly surprised. So that frees up some of our other money from other funds. So we are able to do more things with our Title One services. We are still working on finalizing this. Again this is ‘Esser Funding’ from the State.”

The Newton School Board also discussed but took no action on the District’s guidelines for K-12th grade cell phone and electronic device use. An hour before the regular 6:30 p.m. board meeting, school board members held  a work session, where Superintendent Tom Messenger and Bloom reviewed the end of the school year survey data from the District Culture Council. Both meetings took place at the EJH Beard Administrative Center in Newton.