The Concord School District has spent about $4. 7 million of the $14. 9 million in the COVID relief budget allocated to the district so far, according to state knowledge discovered on a new dashboard.
About 35 per cent of the cash went to pay staff, 30 per cent to student welfare and social-emotional learning, and 9 per cent to special education, with smaller amounts earmarked for generation and feeding programmes, among others.
Six miles ahead, the Merrimack Valley school district spent $2. 3 million of the $5. 2 million allocated in the COVID relief budget. About 42% of the cash went to technology, 19% to window and door replacements, 5% to staff and smaller amounts. for social-emotional learning and cleaning supplies, among others.
A new online dashboard unveiled through the New Hampshire Education Decomponent this week shows how the school district is spending the federal COVID-19 relief budget that has been allocated to districts for the past two years. The website, called “iGrant,” is part of decomponentment’s iPlatform online page and comprises knowledge about investment allocations, expense details, reimbursements paid through school districts, and elementary activities where dollars are spent through schools. The site is intended to generate monetary transparency for the public.
The total amount spent through a district can be tracked in the “refund” category, district claims are still pending.
“The COVID relief budget has been instrumental in helping New Hampshire and other states fulfill their educational desires going forward,” said Jessica Lescarbeau, COVID-19 education program manager for the Department of Education. “This new website is a wonderful resource for the public to explore how schools are allocating that budget to drive recovery efforts. “
Concord has spent much of its COVID dollars on salaries, which is typical of federal grants, according to Melissa White, director of the Department of Education’s Division of Student Support. One of ESSER’s legal activities is to pay the salaries of Title I staff and paratroopers, after-school teachers, special education teachers, and special education paratroopers, as long as they are all district employees.
“Anything from adding extra nurses or surrogate nurses to help in the pandemic, daycare staff or a company coming in to help clean up schools,” White said. “They’re interventionists who offer specific facilities to students, they’re paraprofessionals who help in the classroom. , there is a wide range. “
On the iGrant website, users can view the district’s ESSER assignments in real time along with their budgets, approvals, and reimbursements. Users can view the school district, geographic region, grant type, and grant amount to see how they are being used.
The federal government has released $190 billion in aid for educational establishments since the beginning of the pandemic, adding 3 stimulus packages that have included budgets for schools across the country. New Hampshire has earned about $650 million in federal budget from U. S. bailout and secondary relief. U. S. background, with learning opportunities lost as a result of COVID.
Manchester won 22% of the entire COVID relief budget that was budgeted for New Hampshire school districts, which White said was through the U. S. Department of Education. The U. S. is in its investment formula. The formula likely took into account Manchester’s huge student population, White said, but also the fact that it has a higher number of English-language learners, racially varied and at or below the federal poverty line. The U. S. Department of Education. The U. S. Census Bureau uses knowledge from the U. S. Census Bureau. U. S. and reduced meals.
Across the state, schools have used ESSER’s budget to acquire new HVAC units, install new windows, procure sanitizing supplies, offer small group tutoring, provide career advancement opportunities for employees, expand summer scheduling and other initiatives, according to the dashboard.
“Our branch is also employing that budget to close the functionality gap and remove barriers that prevent students from receiving a high-quality education,” said New Hampshire Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut. “With this funding, we’ve been able to launch incredible systems that mentor New Hampshire students, make sure each and every child can attend summer camp, provide professional education for educators, and identify networked learning modules, among other efforts. We will continue with projects that will boost recovery efforts and help other young people. Aim higher, while sharing those projects through our new transparent and interactive dashboard.
Eileen O’Grady is a member of Report for America, which has been covering education for the Concord Monitor since spring 2020. O’Grady is a former editor of Scope magazine at Northeastern University in Boston, where she reported on issues of social justice, netpaintings activism, politics, and the COVID-19 pandemic. She is from Vermont and has painted as a reporter covering local politics for Shelburne News and Citizen. His paintings have also been published in The Boston Globe, U. S. News.