ECS breaks down CARES Act funds

At the Dec. 15 Enterprise City Schools Board of Education Meeting a concerned parent questioned where the funding the school system has received from the CARES Act has been spent.

Enterprise School Board President Reid Clark said that the information was publicly available and ECS Superintendent Greg Faught and Chief School Financial Officer Pamela Christian shared with The Sun a complete breakdown of how much the school system has received and where the money is being spent.

The CARES Act included more than $1 billion of funding to spend with schools across the country and much of the money is required to be spent for specific reasons and almost all of it must be spent by a specific timeframe.

The funds that ECS received comes from four different programs from the CARES Act money: Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER), Governor’s Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (GEER), Coronavirus Relief Fund Education Health (CRF-Health) and Wellness and Coronavirus Relief Fund Education Remote Learning Devices (CRF-Tech).

The funding from GEER must be spent within 12 months of receiving it, while ESSER money has to be spent by September of 2022. The money from the Coronavirus Relief Fund – both CRF-Health and CRF-Tech – must be spent by Dec. 31 of this year.

ECS received $835,121 from CRF-Tech, $829,160 from ESSER, $548,584 from CRF-Health and $421,499 from GEER. In total, ECS received $2,670,364 in CARES Act relief.

The money received from CRF-Tech has to be used on electronic devices, software, related training for teachers and staff, maintenance services all “for the purpose of facilitating remote virtual learning and overall continuity of learning as a direct response to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Of the money ECS received for CRF-Tech, 44 percent of it has been used on purchasing Chromebooks for students to use; 24 percent was spent of software; 16 percent was spent on iPads, teacher cameras and Chromebook carts; further training, the Remind App and extra pay for professional development days for teachers made up the remainder of the spending. ECS still has two percent – or $16,700 – of the funds left to be spent before the end of the year.

Money from CRF-Health must be spent on salary or wages for professions or aides to provide COVID-19 response, specimen collection and testing for COVID-19, temporary facility improvements needed for nurses and nurses’ station supplies, creation of temporary isolation areas for symptomatic students, health screening equipment, modifications or enhancements to transportation vehicles to mitigate spread of COVID-19 and cleaning supplies.

Of the money received from CRF-Health 75 percent has gone to nurse salaries and benefits with an additional 6 percent going to substitute nurses and 2 percent going to nurse supplies and equipment. The additional 16 percent left has not yet been spent. That leaves $94,909 remaining.

Money from ESSER must be spent on the school’s reopening plan and the budget for the spending has to be approved by the state. ECS spent 29 percent of this money on cleaning supplies for the schools, 18 percent on substitute teacher pay, 14 percent on face shields and plexiglass for teachers, 11 percent on bus cleaning supplies, 9 percent on outdoor seating and covering, 8 percent on water fill stations for students and teachers and 6 percent on nurse salaries and additional substitute pay. The rest of the money was spent on counseling services for employees, “equitable services” from Wiregrass Christian and a kiosk and laptop for Enterprise High School outside of the lunchroom.

The GEER money was required to be spent on classroom supplies and tech software. It was required to be approved by the Alabama State Department of Education.

ECS spent 21 percent of GEER money on classroom supplies with an additional 19 percent being spent on after school activities, 13 percent on tech software and 12 percent on Edgenuity. Edgenuity is an online curriculum for blended learning. The remainder of the money was allocated to academic consultants, headphones and microphones, computer charging stations and substitute pay.