By Richard Bammer
A resolution urging Congress not to reduce and also increase Federal Impact Aid and a nearly $300,000 change order for the Scandia Elementary roof project are on the agenda tonight when Travis Unified leaders meet in Fairfield.
Superintendent Pamela Conklin recommends that the five-member governing board approve a resolution that urges Congress to prevent spending cuts and to increase funding for Federal Impact Aid, millions of taxpayer dollars annually upon which the district, with schools on or closely adjacent to Travis Air Force Base, depends to pay its bills. The district also operates two elementaries in Vacaville, Cambridge and Foxboro.
Federal Impact Aid, a law which President Harry Truman signed in 1950, is money given by the federal government to school districts that are affected by a large number of students living on federal property — such as military bases, national parks and Indian reservations — to compensate for the loss of local property tax revenues. About one in three Travis Unified 5,500 students is a military dependent.
The resolution comes amid the ongoing Scandia Elementary Modernization Project on Travis Air Force Base.