The Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) plans to release funds from the CARES Act to school districts on June 30 through Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) and the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER). Schools in Crookston will receive a total of $328,422.
Of that total, $302,697 comes from ESSER funding based on Title Ia allocations, with which MDE would like the districts to prioritize technology, summer school, and mental health support. The MDE has the authority to direct the remaining $25,725 in funding from GEER and is targeting those funds for technology and summer.
Besides MDE still working on guidance for how the CARES Act funds can be spent, Crookston Superintendent Jeremy Olson also stated the district would need to create their plan for spending the funding. “The whole idea of these dollars is to help get kids back on track academically,” said Olson. “So, bringing kids that are maybe struggling during the distance learning back on track. The second aspect is to support title programs. The third is to provide technology to schools for possible future distance learning plans or to enhance technology. And then there is another component, to help districts with emergency supplies, protective gear, things like digital thermometers, facemasks, the additional cleaning supplies we’re using to make schools whole for the COVID-19 issue. The state is still providing guidance as to the detail of how those can be spent, but those are the general principles.”
Because private schools also receive Title Ia funding, a share of the $328,422 allocated in Crookston will go to Cathedral School and Our Savior’s Lutheran School. The amount of money allocated to private schools has still yet to be determined by the state. “There is a debate at the state level at this point based on are those dollars going out to private schools based on the number of free and reduced lunch counts of those schools or is the allocation going to be based on the total number of students private schools have,” said Olson. “That’s going to be resolved at the state level. This is a state-wide conversation, not a local conversation, because we very much work in partnership with our private schools here. Once that happens and is decided will have a final allocation the district will be planning for. While we’re waiting for that discussion to happen, we are planning for how we spend those dollars. Those dollars are going to be allocated to us over several years, so we have time not only to plan but to execute that plan.”
