Note: this is one in an occasional series of what South school districts and towns will do with stimulus money.

In a district that has seen its share of drastic program cuts in recent years because of finances, it's an understatement to say that the announcement of $1.4 million in stimulus funding coming to the Duquesne City School District is good news.

That $1.4 million translates to about $3,100 per student in the district, which serves 445 students in grades K-8. That is by far the highest per-student allocation in Allegheny County, with the next highest being for the Pittsburgh Public and Wilkinsburg school districts, which received some $1,500 per student.

That Duquesne, one of the poorest districts in the state, would get a large chunk of the $2.6 billion in stimulus funds designated for education in Pennsylvania makes sense considering that high-poverty districts are meant to get more under the stimulus package than low-poverty districts.

Yet Duquesne officials and those from the Allegheny Intermediate Unit, which manages the district, are moving forward cautiously with their plans for using the money.

AIU Interim Director Patrick Sable said the reason for the caution is that he and his staff are still trying to determine the legitimate uses for the money.

But, among the ideas district officials have for its uses are new musical instruments, a possible expansion of the after school tutoring program, a restructured elementary program and some building improvements.

Mr. Sable said the district's two major goals in using the stimulus money are to improve student achievement and avoid a property tax increase.

Mr. Sable warned that although each district has received totals for the amount of stimulus funding expected, the district's use of that money must be approved.

He said there is an application process to ensure that money is used for proper projects. In addition, none of the money will come to districts until the General Assembly takes action to appropriate it.

One of the items on which Duquesne officials expect to use about $370,000 of the stimulus funding is the implementation of the Success for All Restructuring program.

The program looks at restructuring preschool through fifth grades and involves the use of one-on-one tutoring, cooperative learning and frequent assessment.

The stimulus money would fund the purchase of the program's curriculum materials, professional development for staff and informational forums for the community.

The new musical instruments would be used in the middle school instrumental music program, resurrected last year with repaired instruments that were left over from the former high school program, which had been cut several years ago because of budget shortfalls.

Duquesne Business Manager William Gallagher said as more students become interested in the music program there are shortages of certain instruments.

The list of building repairs that stimulus money would be used for include repairs to the roof, new exterior doors, a new phone system, a new bell system that is tied into the building's clocks and a new sound system for the auditorium.

"We are saying all of this with the understanding that it will be approved. It is a big wish list," Mr. Sable said.