An administrator for Brownstown Central Community School Corp. has released details on what the district has funded through federal and state COVID-19 relief grants and what plans are in the works for the future.
Since August 2021, Indiana school corporations have been able to secure COVID-19 relief funding through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) and Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) programs.
The Indiana Department of Education unveiled a public school spending dashboard on Jan. 31 that shows what money has been granted to schools from funding and how much has been spent.
According to the dashboard, BCCSC has been allocated $2,711,319 and has $2,168,943 remaining.
Jade Peters, assistant superintendent for BCCSC, said so far, the funding has been used for hiring additional aides for classrooms, more nursing staff and more cleaning supplies.
The school corporation has until September 2024 to spend its federal funding, he said.
ESSER and GEER were both created with the focus of alleviating the impact of COVID-19, so there are guidelines for how funding can be spent.
Peters said those guidelines allow money to be spent toward resources that address learning loss, air quality improvement or anything that would reduce virus transmission.
Going forward, Peters said the school corporation has an idea for how the rest of the ESSER and GEER funding will be spent.
“Along with keeping up with additional staff that has been added, we would like to use this money to update our HVAC system at our elementary school,” he said.
Medora Community School Corp. has been allocated $1,078,871 through the federal programs, and $835,962 is remaining.
Medora Superintendent Roger Bane said the school corporation already has a plan for what its federal funding will be used toward.
That plan includes hiring certified elementary teaching positions and noncertified teaching aides, curriculum materials, heating and air maintenance, water bottle refilling stations, cleaning supplies, technology upgrades and transportation costs.
Three other school corporations in Jackson County have received ESSER and GEER funding.
Seymour received the most federal dollars with $8,776,227 and has $7,720,731 remaining.
Crothersville Community School Corp. has spent the most ESSER and GEER funding out of the county’s school districts. Of the $995,106 allocated to the school corporation, $490,783 remains to be spent.