Newsroom

For Immediate Release 

April 28, 2023 

Volusia County Schools addresses questions on Plus One program 

DELAND – There has been increased discussion surrounding Volusia County Schools’ decision to discontinue the Plus One program this week to utilize resources to better support students.  

Plus One began in Volusia County in 2003 as a pilot program that was partially implemented at one school to offer additional instructional time. Since that time, there have been many different versions of Plus One. In 2015, the state mandated the extra one hour for the 300 schools with the lowest reading levels, which has since been reduced to 30 minutes a day. Two years ago, the state eliminated the designation of schools in the lowest 300 and the funding associated with that designation, which was utilized to support Plus One. 

Volusia County Schools continued offering the program, which was in place this school year at Turie T. Small Elementary School, Palm Terrace Elementary School, Westside Elementary School, Edith Starke Elementary and Holly Hill K-8 School based on the rankings. 

There are several factors that contributed to the decision to end the program, including: 

Elimination of the funding source two years ago, causing Title I budgets that can be tailored to meet the needs of Title I schools to be cut. 

An addition of 30 minutes to all elementary school days, causing the extra hour of instruction for students to be reduced to an extra 30 minutes. 

Change in poverty ranking of schools, which reduced the number of eligible schools. 

This restructuring will allow for more choice for students and teachers, as well as give the opportunity for schools to design programs that meet the needs of each individual student, which may include tutoring services, clubs, activities and other interventions. The money is going back to the schools in their Title I budget for discretionary projects that will provide direct support to the schools. 

In fact, the preliminary 2023-24 Title 1 budget for these five schools combined is over $469,000 more than their 2022-23 Title 1 budget. 

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