From the Desk of Dr. Halley: CARES Act Update
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Launch the media gallery 1 playerGood morning, again. I want to take a moment and provide you with an update on COVID-19 CARES funds in our district. Since the onset of COVID-19, the federal government has passed disaster relief bills that have provided CARES funds to schools and communities. Those funds have come to us in several ways. Grants that we have written and received, direct payments from DESE, and money from the County. All of these funds come with a complex list of expenditure restrictions. For example, I can't purchase a new set of Algebra textbooks with these funds, but I can purchase soap, and all manner of cleaning supplies/equipment, wireless connectivity, and student technology.
Now I would like to outline for you the amounts of dollars received and what those dollars have been or will be spent on.
Access Grant; $12,000. Grant requirements: Completion by November 1st, a district funds matching of $12,000.
- We placed wireless access bridges/points to the exterior portion of our school campus.
- This will allow for classes to be connected anywhere on campus even outside.
K-12 support; $45,972. Requirements: funds expended by December 31st. (Money notification and receipt in late November)
- Facility Cleaning supplies
- Soaps, hand sanitizer
- Maintenance cleaning equipment for schools and busses
County Cares; $223,849. A big thank you to our County Commissioners for recognizing and providing financial assistance to Putnam County R-I. Requirements: Schools were eligible for $500 per student. All expenditures must be Covid related. (Money received December 1st)
- Schools Match for the Access grant
- Additional Elementary lunch table
- Elementary Principal/ Nurse's office renovation and trade
- Electrostatic chemical dispersion unit
- Portable air scrubbers, 17 air scrubbers placed in large common area HVAC units
- 8 new water bottle filling stations...ordered not delivered yet
- Personal Protective equipment: thermometers, face shields, masks
- Plexiglass dividers
- Wireless Mics
- Student and teacher technology
- Additional Covid cleaning evening payroll
- Additional bus driver pay and fuel for multiple trip busses
- Hillyard scrubbers and additional equipment
Items under consideration
- student Chromebooks
- cell boosters for improved phone connectivity inside our facilities
- testing kits for ECSE and kindergarten roundup
- additional personnel for ECSE and kindergarten roundup which will allow for appropriate physical distancing
- washers and dryers for Maintenance, FACS, and Special education classroom.
The Connection Project; eligible for $17,200. Grant requirements; funds must be obligated by September 30, 2021
- wifi enabled devices
- bus-based wifi
- personal hotspots
- power supplies
Federal CARES; $193,381, must be requested by September 2021
- To be requested in the next fiscal year
- Government definition: to cover the salaries for staff whose services are substantially dedicated to mitigating or responding to Covid. My explanation: These funds will be used to replace local dollars to cover salaries, which will provide financial relief elsewhere in our budget.
Dr. Heath Halley Ed. D.
Putnam County R-I
Office 660 (947) 3361 ext. 301
Cell 660-216-1437
Putnam County R-I is "Creating Opportunities Through Quality Education"
"When you're interested in something, you do it only when it is convenient. When you're committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results." Herm Edwards
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