On hot, muggy days, the floors in Fairview Elementary can be coated with moisture due to the building’s poor temperature regulation, says Principal Monte Ewing.
A new heating, ventilation and air conditioning, or HVAC, unit being installed will help correct that.
“We’ve had some complications with the current HVAC because sometimes it’s working and sometimes it’s not,” Ewing said. “… I’m just excited about it just smelling fresh and clean, not having the humidity on the floors because that’s unsafe. I’m excited that we’re getting it done, and the kids deserve it.”
Fairview’s new HVAC system is one of many projects that is being funded by Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds that the U.S. Department of Education began rolling out in three phases beginning in March 2020 and ending in March 2021.
The federal education department established ESSER to help public school districts address the impacts of COVID-19 through facility improvements, air quality improvements, education loss due to the pandemic, purchasing personal protective equipment and cleaning supplies, educational technology and mental health services, among others. Funds were sent to state departments of education, then were allotted to local districts based on income of families in the district and the cost of education in the state — with lower-income districts receiving more funds than higher-income districts of similar size.
CMSD received $37.8 million in ESSER, while Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District received $24.4 million and Lowndes County School District received $17.2 million, according to officials from all three districts.
ESSER I funds had to be spent by the end of last month, while deadlines for ESSER II and III are the end of calendar year 2023 and 2024, respectively. Extensions to those deadlines are available under certain circumstances, such as high demand and national supply chain issues.
That means while the three districts combined have already invested more than $30 million in ESSER dollars in programs, equipment and infrastructure, $48 million-plus still needs to be spent before the federal deadlines. By each phase’s deadline, any unspent money must be returned, a lesson CMSD has already learned.
CMSD
CMSD has spent $7,660,609 — about 20 percent — of its ESSER with little more than $1 million in outstanding purchase orders, Chief Financial Officer Holly Rogers told The Dispatch. More than $29 million has been designated but not yet spent.
A district-conducted assessment revealed funding needs for after-school and summer programs, sanitizing and disinfection of buildings and buses, supplemental curriculum, social and emotional needs of students and staff, outdoor classroom materials, HVAC/air purification, touchless restroom equipment, roofing replacement, computer equipment and audio visual equipment for distance learning.
“We had an architect/engineering firm evaluate the district with our maintenance director for the most prominent needs of the district concerning air quality in our buildings,” Rogers said. “These funds had the specific purpose of responding to or taking measures to prevent the spread of COVID. Air purification and touchless restroom equipment throughout our instructional buildings is our response.”
CMSD spent its ESSER I funds on “instructional supplies and licenses, outdoor classroom equipment, virtual learning equipment, instructional remediation programs during after school and summer school, masks and cleaning/sanitizing supplies for buildings and buses, desk shields, temperature scanners, and transportation costs of running the afterschool and summer programs,” Rogers said.
However, supply chain issues kept CMSD from spending all of its ESSER I by last month’s deadline, so it sent $3,385 back to MDE.
ESSER II will focus on providing a new HVAC system for Columbus High School, Cook Elementary and Fairview. Fairview and Franklin Elementary are getting new windows, and with Franklin’s window replacement, the district must conduct an asbestos abatement.
ESSER III will provide updated and touchless restrooms at district campuses and new roofs for CHS and Cook. All roofs across the district, aside from Fairview and Sale, will have some sort of roof repair.
The district is also working on reviewing and modifying its restroom renovation bids and expects roofing bids to go out next, Rogers said.
A portion of both ESSER II and III will fund enrichment and remediation for after-school and summer programming, CMSD Public Information Officer Mary Pollitz said.
LCSD
LCSD has spent $7,805,206 of its ESSER funds, with $9,417,715 left to obligate, federal programs director Kristie Jones said.
Funds are being used to address learning loss, technology updates, summer programs, cleaning and disinfecting supplies, additional nurses and teacher aides and various construction projects.
“LCSD conducted needs assessments to identify student, staff and facility needs resulting from COVID,” Jones said. “District and building level administrators meet with stakeholders to discuss the individual needs of each school. LCSD solicited feedback on ESSER funding from administrators, teachers, staff, parents and community members.”
The district’s ESSER I funds, which totalled a little less than $1 million, went toward providing one additional nurse to each campus (Caledonia, New Hope and West Lowndes), adding additional teacher aides at each school and purchasing MacBooks to strengthen the district’s one-to-one MacBook program (one device per every student) and upgrade student and teacher devices.
LCSD is using ESSER II to provide summer programs to assist with closing learning gaps, which includes transportation and meals. It also replaced all carpet on campuses with tile in student areas and added air conditioning to buses.
The bulk of remaining funds are being used to replace the HVAC unit at New Hope Middle School and replace windows at all LCSD schools with the exceptions of New Hope High and Caledonia Elementary.
Jones said the programs and technology as well as adding air conditioning to buses have been completed or are in place, and like its Columbus counterpart, LCSD is beginning its HVAC replacement and its window replacement.
SOCSD
SOCSD has already spent the majority of its ESSER funds, $15,277,885, with only $9,142,328 left to obligate.
Still, federal programs director Anna Guntharp said the district has run into challenges when dealing with the scope of funds and with supply chain issues.
“We first sought to meet the needs of our current students who have been impacted by COVID-19 either through learning loss or the stress that the pandemic has caused,” Guntharp said. “We have also sought to use these funds to be better prepared to prevent the spread of illness in the future and to improve our buildings and facilities for generations of SOCSD students to come. Another challenge has been just the slower supply chain caused by the pandemic, and the rising cost of construction and materials.”
SOCSD used its ESSER I funds, which totaled roughly $1.7 million, to help reopen schools for 2021-22 after the COVID-19 shutdown, provide mental health support through counseling services and assist with purchasing educational technology for students.
ESSER II is being used to provide additional staff for instructional delivery and interventions; building improvements; sanitation for physical education programs; additional custodial services; additional instructional technology including equipment for recording lessons in classrooms and a help desk technician. The district also paid for bus monitors and equipment for buses.
Sandra Young, Guntharp’s administrative assistant, said about 30 percent of ESSER II is left, which totals to about $2.1 million to be spent by year’s end.
Of ESSER III’s total $15,590,286, Guntharp said $6 million has been used for building improvements, including new HVAC systems at Armstrong Junior High, Overstreet Elementary and Sudduth Elementary.
Other funds have been used to add staff to address learning loss and students’ social emotional well-being such as adding a certified academic language therapist. There is a larger plan in place to send 14 teachers within the district to become CALTs. Their schooling will be funded in parts by ESSER II and III.
“ESSER III funds were used to support existing staff related to the district’s response to COVID-19, including custodial staff, intervention staff, and nursing staff,” Guntharp said.
Young said there is about 45 percent left of ESSER III to spend, which totals roughly $7 million.
The district is currently working on the building improvements which include replacing the HVAC systems in three of its schools.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 45 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
