The San Diego Board of Education voted to return thousands in federal funds to Pacific Beach and Ocean Beach elementary schools that the board had previously voted to cut at its Jan. 27 meeting. The board voted unanimously on Feb. 17 to restore the original plan to distribute next year’s federal funds to elementary, middle and high schools with 40 percent or more students on the free and reduced-price lunch program. Pacific Beach Elementary was poised to lose approximately $31,000 because of the board’s previous decision to allocate next year’s federal funds to schools with 60 percent or more students that qualify for the subsidized lunches. Only 51 percent of students, or 163 students, qualify for subsidized lunches at Pacific Beach Elementary. Other schools that would have lost thousands of dollars in federal funding if the 60 percent decision had held include Ocean Beach Elementary, Point Loma High School and University City High School. These schools will now receive a share of the Title-I funding. Allocation of the federal funds, called Title-I, works on a tiered system. The more students from poorer families at the school, the more money per student the school receives. Schools with 85 to 100 percent of students on subsidized lunches receive $447 per student. Schools with 60 to 84 percent of students who qualify for the lunch program receive $296 per student. Schools with 40 to 59 percent of students who qualify for the lunch program receive $196 per student. The Title-I funds are supposed to pay for the cost of extra tutoring and other school supplies. There are federal guidelines on how schools spend the Title-I funds but school administrators often spend it at their discretion, according to board member John de Beck, who represents schools in Point Loma, Ocean Beach and Pacific Beach. It’s unclear how much federal funding Title-I schools will receive next year because the number of students on the free and reduced-lunch program may change, according to school district spokesperson Jack Brandai. Potential Title-I funds from a federal stimulus package signed into law on Feb. 17 by President Barack Obama have not been laid out in detail either, Brandais said. Next year’s budget At the meeting, the school board also identified approximately $45 million in budget savings for next school year, staving off layoffs for now, according to de Beck. The board agreed to replace fewer retired teachers and other workers next year, plus change school bus operations and postpone the purchase of new buses, according to school district budget reports. “We’re still $30 million short,” de Beck said. Potential savings from layoffs have yet to be addressed by the board. “We’re pushed up against a wall…we’ll probably have to consider layoffs,” de Beck said. The board is scheduled to discuss budget issues at a special meeting, open to the public, on Sunday, Feb. 22 at 2 p.m. at the Eugene Brucker Education Center, 4100 Normal St.