Use of federal Covid-19 funds by Pelham schools outlined by business chief
Editor’s note: This press release was provided by the Pelham Union Free School District.
On Wednesday, November 17 the Board of Education officially appointed Dr. Dennis Lauro as Acting Superintendent effective December 1, 2021 to fill in for Dr. Champ while she is on leave until the new year.
At the meeting, Jim Hricay, Assistant Superintendent for Business shared with the Board an update on the District’s use of Federal funds that were awarded to assist with COVID-19 related expenses. The federal money totals $831,260 and is currently being used to fund:
- Four intervention teachers for the elementary schools to help students build ELA/Math skills
- A school psychologist to lead the Fly-Five Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum at the elementary schools
- A school psychologist to provide additional support at the middle and high schools
- Building substitute teachers at all six schools
- A part-time COVID-19 Coordinator to assist with contact tracing and manage the District’s COVID-19 testing program
Additional money was also budgeted to provide more robust programming during summer 2021. A full breakdown of how these funds are being used is available on the District website.
The District is currently projecting a surplus of the federal funds of approximately $291,000, which Mr. Hricay said may be used for certain COVID-19 related purposes over the next two school years.
Anyone with comments on the use of the federal COVID-19 funds may send them via email to Dr. Champ.
The Board of Education will next meet on Wednesday, December 8 and will conduct a work session on Hutchinson School and Authentic Learning Lessons on the Use of Space.
