Nearly $1 million in CARES Act grants will help Peninsula schools cope with pandemic
The Peninsula School District has received nearly $1 million in grants under the federal CARES Act, money that will help the school district meet cash needs dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.
The largest grant, $628,658, comes from the state, as part of its distribution of CARES Act money. The balance, about $320,000 comes from the same federal source, but is distributed by the Pierce County.
The county grant was used during the summer to stock up on masks, disinfectants, hand sanitizer and other personal protective equipment, said Karen Anderson, the district’s chief financial officer. The larger state grant will be used mainly to solve “connectivity issues” for remote learning, she said, including providing laptops to students.
“It is helpful,” Anderson said. “There are expenses related to remote learning. Not all of our staff or students had access to internet or good connectivity. We’re working on hot spots, more devices for students who need them.”
The state grant comes from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) fund established by Congress as part of the CARES Act and administered by the Department of Education. Funds are allocated by the state Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Some of the ESSER grant may also be used to offset meal program costs incurred during the summer, Anderson said.
“During the spring and through the summer we were providing meals to any child who needed them,” she explained. “They did not have to be on the ‘free and reduced’ list. But the funding we got for these meals did not offset our costs.”
Budget of $144 million
In a presentation to the Peninsula School Board on Aug. 27, Anderson outlined a $144 million budget for the 2020-21 school year. The budget projects some revenue and enrollment loss due to the pandemic, though she cautioned “no one really knows what’s going to happen.”
The budget forecasts about 8,770 students in Kindergarten through 12th grade, slightly fewer than last year.
“Right now, we don’t really know what’s going to happen to enrollment,” Anderson told the school board. “We did anticipate a downturn in enrollment, but we really don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Projected revenue includes $23.5 million in local taxes, $3.3 million in local non-tax revenue — largely student fees — and a total of $109 million from the state — although some of that is transportation money that is in doubt.
“There has of course been a reduction in bus ridership due to COVID,” Anderson noted. “There is the likelihood that without normal ridership we will be losing some of this revenue.”
As in previous years, salaries and benefits are the district’s largest single expense, about 83 percent of the total budget, Anderson noted.
Teachers, administrators and other certificated employees earn $62.6 million, classified employees — custodians, bus drivers, para-educators and others — are paid $21.6 million, and benefits account for another $35 million.
Other expenses included $15 million for contracted services, such as food service, insurance and maintenance projects; and $9 million for supplies, including textbooks and software.
Capital expenditures, such as those for the four elementary school construction projects underway, are accounted for in a separate budget and funded from a special levy for that purpose.
This story was originally published September 16, 2020 at 10:57 AM.