LINDEN &8212; Linden City Schools held a public meeting to discuss federal programs funding for the school year and the Child Internet Protection Act at the Linden Board of Education Office on Tuesday.

Iris Richardson, federal programs coordinator, said the meeting was a chance to explain all of the federal funding available to the school system and what could be done with those funds.

The first group of funding is Title I Part A funding which is set aside for schools who have high incidents of low income children in attendance. Richardson said the funds can be used for either targeted students or schoolwide, but the school must designate which one before each year.

Richardson also said these funds can be used on a number of things, including hiring new teachers or purchasing new equipment.

A second kind of federal funding available, Title II Part A, is set aside for teacher training purposes and also to intervene and reduce classroom sizes when necessary, Richardson said.

All of the drug and alcohol prevention programs are funded through Title IV. Scott Collier, interim superintendent, said usually these funds are pooled into a consortium and used in the region for these programs.

Title V funds are set aside for innovative programs, Richardson said.

Another funding bracket Linden City Schools takes part in are the Title VI Part A funds, which are reserved for special education children. The government allocates funds to each school based on the number of individuals who qualify as special needs children, Richardson said.

After each school receives federal funding for the year, the system requires each school to submit a school-wide plan, which details how this money will be spent, Collier said. These plans are then put into a plan for the whole system, which shows how all federal dollars will be spent in the schools.

Once these plans are in place, the system in required to create a budget, which is then put online and can be accessed at the Alabama State Department of Education Web site at www.alsde.edu. Collier said budgets will be submitted by the middle of September.

The meeting was also an opportunity to discuss the Child Internet Protection Act, which requires schools to have an acceptable use and safety policy on Internet usage in schools.