Iowa schools are getting nearly seven million dollars in federal funding for weekend, after school and summer programs. The tiny town of Diagonal got a generous share of that, more than 700-thousand dollars for programs run through its school district. Superintendent Karleen Stephens says the money will pay for programs and services that are already being planned.Those services include keeping school libraries open during the summer, offering before and offering working parents after-school care for their kids, updating educational programs and also social and cultural enrichment. Stephens says those needs have been identified in the largely rural southern Iowa community. Money’s budgeted for transportation in the rural community, since more kids would attend an activity if they had a way to get to it. Stephens says education is only part of the service proposed. She says there a lot of social needs, and the program will offer everything from career counseling to alcohol and drug prevention programs, and training in parenting. The total amount of the three-year grant is more than 3-million dollars for the program, though that includes local matching money and adds in the value of free use of school facilities.
