The director's Cut

Vicki Kibodeaux

DR. VICKI KIBODEAUX

Federal Programs Specialist

Dr. Vicki Kibodeaux is a former teacher, academic coach, curriculum specialist, and federal programs director who has served in Mississippi schools for twenty-five years. A National Board Certified Teacher in Adolescent Generalist, Dr. Kibodeaux received her Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from the University of Southern Mississippi with an emphasis on professional development. Dr. Kibodeaux has had extensive training in professional development through Southeast Eisenhower Regional Consortium (SERC) @ SERVE with a focus on developing skills to provide staff development in mathematics and science. She has successful experience in leading teachers in effective instruction, unit lesson planning, and assessment writing. Most recently, Dr. Kibodeaux has spent the last five years working with federal programs. She has extensive experience with consolidated federal programs applications, Title III grants, McKinney-Vento Homeless grants, amendment writing, schoolwide planning, school improvement plans, and monitoring of such programs. A life-long reader, Dr. Kibodeaux enjoys reading when she is not enjoying the company of her five grandchildren. In addition to these pleasures, she holds several leadership roles in her church. Dr. Kibodeaux is married and has 3 sons, one daughter, and one son-in-law.

EQUITY CONFERENCE TAKE AWAYS

Many of us in Mississippi recently returned from the MDE-sponsored 2022 Equity for All…All for Equity conference.  The conference had several sessions I found helpful.  I want to share some information with you if you could not attend the conference or attended different sessions.  Many presentations can be found in the MDE document library in

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Comparability Part 2

Last month I discussed comparability.  I want to add a little to that conversation. As I stated previously, comparability is a federally mandated process that requires schools to attest that the Title schools are funded comparably to the non-Title schools, or if all schools are Title I, the higher-poverty schools are funded comparably to the

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Comparability and Procedures

We have that word again – procedures.  In federal programs, procedures come up all the time. This time it is in conjunction with comparability. Comparability is a federally mandated process that requires schools to attest that the Title schools are funded comparably to the non-Title schools, or if all schools are Title, the higher-poverty schools

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Grants are Closing! Spend That Money!

So, how are you handling the closing of the Title FY20 and FY21 grants and the ESSER I grant?  Are you like many who are rushing to get revisions done so the money can be in budget areas that can be easily spent?  Remember that the funds must be obligated by September 30 and liquidated

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A New School Year – What Now?

It is hard to believe the new school year is here.  Many school districts have already started!!!  The summer has flown by! The beginning of the school year is hectic for principals and Federal Program Directors.  I know I have to try and walk a delicate tightrope in getting out the information and reminders of

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Lessons from a Monitoring Visit – Part 2

Last month I shared a few lessons learned from a monitoring visit.  In that blog, I discussed procedures and documentation that could prevent a monitoring finding on indicator H-1.  This month, I  want to continue that discussion since there has been a change in the procurement thresholds.  During this past legislative session, the Mississippi Senate

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Lessons from a Monitoring Visit Part 1

The Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) is finishing the FY22 monitoring on FY21 documentation.  After spending time with districts going through monitoring and working with them as they receive their reports, I would like to share some feedback that would better help the rest of us as we prepare for future monitoring visits from MDE.

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Are Federal Program Procedure Manuals Really Necessary?

Are federal program procedure manuals essential?  As much as I hate to say it, the answer is yes.  The procedure manual for federal programs is addressed at conferences and during every monitoring visit.  The next question is, what does the procedure manual include?  The manual should consist of the procedures undertaken by the federal programs

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