Sumter School District to get $5.6M in CARES funding
Hiring custodians, nurses, social workers part of Sumter’s state-approved spending plan
Sumter School District will receive about $5.6 million in federal CARES Act stimulus funding in response to COVID-19, and roughly half of that allocation will go to increased sanitation efforts.
District Chief Financial Officer Jennifer Miller presented the district's spending plan, which was approved by the state Department of Education, at Monday's board of trustees' meeting.
A total of $2.6 million, or 47.4%, of the district's $5.6 million in funding to be spent during a 2.5-year grant period will go to hiring one more custodian at each school site (26 total) and purchasing sanitation/cleaning supplies and some personal protective equipment, Miller said.
Those building services staff personnel and materials will help to maintain and clean facilities to minimize risks of a COVID-19 outbreak on campus, she added.
The full grant has 12 structured allowable funding categories for each district, and all must submit their separate claims to the state department each quarter. Funds are to be spent by Sept. 30, 2022, Miller said.
A second large funding category in the district's approved spending plan is technology equipment at $802,153, or 14.4% of the total grant. This includes the purchase of laptops, ear buds and mobile hotspots for students and software for teachers and administrators to use in virtual and hybrid/blended learning models of instruction.
Next, at $732,858, or 13.1%, is two-year grant funding for seven additional full-time nurses in the district. With those additional nurses, there will be a nurse at each school, Miller said.
Three additional social workers in the district will also be added with two-year grant positions. Total funding in the mental health services category is $369,504, or 6.6%. Administration said the three additional social workers will give the district a total of seven.
The "other activities" funding category, at $872,858, made up 15.6% of the district's $5.6 million allotment. Miller said this category has been used for printing the district's virtual and hybrid learning reopening plan guides, unforeseen expenditures, indirect costs and a $349,000 allocation to local private schools. The district is currently serving four private schools with requested items. Those include Thomas Sumter Academy, Wilson Hall, Holy Angels Academy (formerly St. Anne and St. Jude) and Berea Junior Academy.