ST. JOHN | Lake Central School Superintendent Gerald Chabot will assemble a task force to look at how the district might spend federal funding it could receive from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

"This money would be for two or three years only," Chabot told the School Board. "We need to be wise about how we invest it. We can't depend on it for the long term, but in the short term, we can use it to affect a positive impact on our students."

Funding details and timelines currently are not available but are expected next month. There will be transparency and accountability for how, when and where tax dollars will be spent as money is funneled through the state to local school districts, Chabot said.

The federal stimulus includes $11 billion nationwide for special education; $10 billion for Title I programs; $650 million for Title II or educational technology; and $250 million for longitudinal data systems to track test data.

Funding for school improvement grants is expected to be $3 billion. Forty percent of the funding can be used for middle and high schools.

A teacher incentive fund of $200 million would allow teachers to apply for a grant based on accomplishments or future work, Chabot said.

Gov. Mitch Daniels would develop plans for Indiana's share of the $53 billion State Stabilization Fund. Included would be $8.8 million for states to spend on anything within their budget including school construction.

That funding could end up going to bridges or other infrastructure, Chabot said. The U.S. Department of Education may pass funds such as Title I directly to local school districts without intervention by the governor.

"We recognize these are federal dollars to help our economy at a tremendous time of need, and we will have to be very careful how we spend and apply for the money," Chabot said.