The Fannin County School Board was given an update regarding how the school system has spent or will be spending remaining Coronavirus Emergency funds, and they unanimously approved a bid for the window replacement project at West Fannin Elementary School (WFES) as well as two bids to purchase keyless entry and technology hardware equipment for the new staff development and transportation facilities during their regular meeting Thursday, November 11.
Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Robert Ensley told the board of the remaining $2,380,869 of the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) III American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds, the school system is asking for input in spending the remaining funds.
Suggestions or comments concerning the remaining funds can be directed to Ensley at 706-632-3771 or by email at rensley@fannin.k12.ga.us.
Ensley also informed the board that the school system received notification that they have been awarded the American Rescue Plan Homeless Children and Youth I (ARP-HCY I) grant in the amount of $29,996 to use for their homeless students. At least 50% of the funds must be spent on after school programs.
The school system is currently working with their Homeless Liaison, Tara Cantrell, to best meet the needs of homeless students attending Fannin County schools.
As of October 31, 2021, 99.9% of their approved Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security I (CARES) budget has been spent. The amount awarded to the school system was $721,600.
The money was spent on such things as online learning platforms for student subscriptions, WiFi hot spots and Chromebook cases, hand sanitizer, cleaning supplies, cleaning and sanitary equipment, water bottle filling station rentals, school bus routing software and additional fuel, and for serving containers, wraps, and disposable trays for remote meal services.
Of the $3,022,125 CARES II money awarded to the school system, as of October 31, 55.35% has been spent.
These funds have been used to purchase such things as school supplies for all five schools so that parents did not have to purchase them, retention bonuses for employees who returned for the 2021-2022 school year, salaries for six Exploratory teachers at the middle school, Chromebooks and cases as well as hot spots for WiFi services for students to use at home and for WiFi enabled buses.
Of the $6,792,151 ESSER III-ARP funds, the school system is in the process of utilizing the original allocation of $4,411,721, and as of October 31, .14% of the funds have been expended.
These funds have been allocated on a three-year plan for such things as salary and benefits for five intervention coordinators with one for each school, salary and benefits for a parent coordinator at the high school, salary and benefits for a crisis counselor for the school system, salary and benefits for five part-time math and five part-time reading and English language arts teachers, replacing the HVAC systems at the high school and middle school, and for the window replacement at WFES.
The school board also approved a bid from Sapelo-National, Inc. from Blairsville, Georgia, to replace the existing windows at WFES with fire escape windows in the amount of $129,935.
The project will be paid for with ESSER III-ARP funds and will be scheduled to begin June 1, 2022 with completion on or before July 15, 2022.
The board also approved to purchase keyless hardware and equipment for the new staff development center from Howard Technology Solutions for $49,337.
The equipment will be paid for with Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) funds.
And the board also approved to purchase technology hardware and switches from MDSI, Inc. in the amount of $35,726.56 for the staff development center and $25,838.88 for the transportation facility.
The purchase will be paid for with SPLOST funds.