Last Monday, the Indiana Department of Education announced the second round of COVID relief funds to Indiana schools, both public and private, through CARES Act 2.0. You can see the original announcement with the full list of schools here.
News Now Warsaw reached out to local school officials to see what will be done with those funds and received the following responses below:
WARSAW: According to Superintendent Dr. David Hoffert, there are several areas the funds will be used. Included was continued PPE supplies and custodial items for the schools, which can include cleaning supplies, hand sanitizer, etc.
Covering remediation gaps, which could include summer school, specific academic remediation staffing, extended hours, etc.
Funding for front line workers as teachers and employees have continued in-person teaching. Hoffert said the district continued to move forward with the FFCRA (Families First Coronavirus Response Act), but that ended on December 31st. “This covers days in case employees either become COVID positive or quarantined. This is important with WCS staying open,” Hoffert said.
Those were the main areas to be covered, and he says the funds are to last over the next couple of years.
TIPPECANOE VALLEY: TVSC’s Director of Public Relations Lori Tilden-Geiger says the district is “currently seeking additional clarification and guidance from the Indiana Department of Education on the scope of the second round of COVID funding. We should be able to share more information in the next few weeks.”
WAWASEE: Superintendent Dr. Steve Troyer says they have not begun planning for the second allocation of funding just yet, but it is high on the district’s priority list.
“Funds will certainly go toward maintaining educational programming through the challenges of COVID, helping to address gaps in learning due to the ongoing pandemic, and making sure we have adequate supplies of PPE and other safety equipment and protocols in place to continue our in-person learning program if possible. We have also briefly discussed using some of those funds to help address the Social and Emotional Learning needs of our children during this time,” Troyer said in an email.
TRITON: An email was sent to Superintendent Jeremy Riffle last Tuesday, but we have received no response.
WHITKO: Because Superintendent Dr. Brandon Penrod is leaving, he did not want to comment on what the district may be doing with the funding moving forward. A response from other officials was not received.
WA-NEE: Superintendent Dr. Scot Croner says the district is still evaluating and waiting to see if funding matches what it would appear they will receive. He says the district has seen significant increases for paid time off due to quarantine periods, PPE, sanitizer, cleaning materials, and technology.
Croner went on to say, “Initially we plan to utilize our funding to reimburse these expenses. In addition, we anticipate additional expenditures as the school year progresses and will utilize any remaining COVID relief funding to help offset these costs.”
MANCHESTER: Superintendent Dr. Teresa Gremaux said the topic is still in discussion within the district and no final decisions have been made yet. Gremaux said in an e-mail response, “The funding will definitely help us maintain program integrity during a time when we are experiencing financial burdens as a result of the pandemic.”
