Warren County has been approved by the state for the ESSER 2.0 grant worth over $8.3 million.
This grant is a COVID relief grant from the state and Director of Schools Grant Swallows called a special School Board meeting on Thursday to get approval for projects that will be funded by this grant.
Some top items include renewed programs, new Chromebooks, and major construction projects.
Swallows listed to School Board members the items, and what each item covers, and asked for approval so the projects can start as soon as possible. The grant can only be used through September 2023.
Instructional materials and supplies. Swallows said, “That is for, very much like we did in ESSER 1.0, a one-year contract for next school year to support our curriculum, ELA, math and software programs.”
Regular instruction equipment. This item is to primarily restock the supply of Chromebooks.
Salary for support services. They have an estimated salary for the Director of Continuous Improvement job description that was approved at the previous meeting.
Clerical personnel. The school system has to report its spending of the grant on a monthly basis so it’s added a stipend for the extra work the compliance bookkeeper has picked up.
Other salaries and wages. Said Swallows, “At the last board meeting, I asked you to approve the job descriptions for ELA and possible math district-wide coaches. We’re going to focus on ELA in this first year.” There may be two to three positions for this job description organized by grade band.
Educational technology and software. This is for one-year contracts with Zoom and the ENA app that allows teachers to connect their cellphone with their school phone.
All the rest of the items mentioned are considered capital projects. Those projects include the following items.
This is the final and major item which will take $6.9 million of the ESSER 2.0 grant. Deferred maintenance is the priority which will encompass ionization units that will go into the current HVAC units in every school. These ionization units help filter air-conditioning units.
School Board member Bill Zechman said, “We’ve made the decision to have our students, teachers, and faculty and staff in the buildings, and I think we owe it to them to do everything we can to make sure they have a safe working environment. That includes indoor air quality.”
Eastside Elementary will be receiving a facelift through this item as well. Eastside currently has portable classrooms. “We are looking to eliminate those portable classrooms,” said Swallows, “and build onto the back of Eastside Elementary to allow us to have four classrooms.”
Eastside will also be adding to the front to give the clinic area and administration offices more space and bring the total possible number of new classrooms to five.
Warren County Middle School will also be getting upgrades with a new roof, all new windows, bathroom renovations, and a new space for administrative offices and a clinic. Some administrative employees are currently in classroom space, according to Swallows, and this project would help the environment of the school.
The School Board approved the items that will be funded by the grant and the school system will have until September 2023 to spend the money.
