Contracts for Excellence for 26 school districts, including two in the north country, were approved Thursday and will earmark millions of dollars for student achievement.

Contract for Excellence is a three-year program that started in the 2007-08 school year. It takes state aid money, which the districts were receiving already, and puts it under the contract, forcing the districts to spend the money in specific areas such as increasing literacy, reducing class size, creating more time in school and recruiting better teachers.

Only schools that are on national in-need-of-improvement lists under the No Child Left Behind act are required to be under the contract.

WATERTOWN

Watertown City School District's $2.1 million plan was one of those accepted.

The district is spending the majority of its money on hiring more teachers, teacher assistants and literacy coaches. There are plans to increase academic intervention services at each building and purchase books and software.

In the first year of the contract, the district was one of only three schools in the state to wait until the contract was approved in November before spending the money associated with it.

Because of that, more than $794,000 was left over at the end of the school year. Superintendent Terry N. Fralick and the Board of Education decided to put the money aside until the state told them what to do with it.

"They could require us to reimburse the state for what we didn't use or they could decrease our state aid for this year," Mr. Fralick said.

Just recently, he said, state Education Department officials said the district must put the money toward this year's contract until the state decides what will be done with the leftover money.

"We thought that the fiscally responsible approach would be to put it aside before we know what was going to happen with it," Mr. Fralick said. "They want us to use that money before they even know what's going to happen with it."

He said if the district uses the money to implement new programs or hire new staff and then the state tells it to return the money, the district would not be allowed to cut programs and staff, but instead would be forced to use fund balance to cover the difference.

"It could have a tremendous impact on our tax levy next year if we use it on programming and then they take it away," Mr. Fralick said. "It takes legislative action to carry over money that a school district doesn't use, and so far that hasn't been done."

Mr. Fralick drafted a letter, which he shared with the Board of Education Sept. 30, to state Sen. Darrel J. Aubertine, D-Cape Vincent, and Anthony S. Bottar, with the state Board of Regents, asking them to "move the process along either through the Legislature so we can keep the money, or just know what's going to happen," Mr. Fralick said.

MASSENA

The Massena Central School District's $1.4 million contract also was approved.

The district is spending the funds on its new universal prekindergarten and an expansion of its alternative education programs, as well as teacher conferences and extra tutoring programs at each school. The money is divided among them, with the junior high receiving the most because it is the most in need of improvement.

The district used the money in the first year of the contract for the planning stages of the programs and will use the money this year on implementation. Times staff writer Lori Shull contributed to this report.