Schools in South San Francisco Weighing Pandemic’s Cost
Education officials balance budget impact of COVID-19
By Austin Walsh Daily Journal staff Jul 31, 2020
Updated Aug 4, 2020
In preparation to reopen schools amid a pandemic, South San Francisco education officials examined the costs associated with assuring the district is prepared to start a uniquely difficult year.
The South San Francisco Unified School District Board of Trustees discussed Monday, July 27, plans to invest heavily in technology, protective equipment and other resources needed for the fall semester.
Ted O, the district’s top business official, anticipated about $2 million will be needed to acquire thousands of laptops, internet hot spots and remote teaching software programs plus personal protective equipment, cleaning supplies and other essential material.
The roughly $800,000 in local, state and federal relief funding provided to the district to offset the costs brought by the COVID-19 pandemic will help the district afford the purchases, said O.
The district received $116,000 through Senate Bill 116; $692,000 through the federal CARES act; $15,000 from the San Mateo County Office of Education and $40,000 from the local Rotary Club, said O, who anticipated about $5 million more in federal funding could be on the way.
He said the second round of federal money is more restrictive than the first, with earmarks to spend the allocations by the end of the year primarily on efforts to limit student learning loss suffered since the stay-at-home order was issued.
In accordance, O suggested the district attempt to spend the second round of funding and save the initial payment for additional items which do not apply to the federal requirements.
To that end, Trustee John Baker questioned whether the district is keeping enough money to assure additional personal protective equipment can be bought later in the year and O said he was eyeing the unrestricted funds for such an expense.
Officials favored such an approach, as Trustee Daina Lujan noted the district may need to set aside additional money to pay for COVID-19 tests if the state is unwilling to sponsor the initiative.
O said the district may have money left from the initial round of federal funding to pay for the tests, depending on the amount of protective equipment acquired.
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Source: https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/schools-in-south-city-weighing-pandemic-s-cost/article_8903b336-d2de-11ea-8afb-73f93774c542.html