NCSD receives $1.6M in federal COVID-19 relief

Newton Community School District will receive more than $1.6 million in federal COVID-19 relief money, which administrators say will be used to refund for items already purchased during the pandemic.

Earlier this month, the Iowa Department of Education announced the state acquired almost $345 million in a new round of federal relief money for its PK-12 schools. Of that, 90% will be available to school districts; the remaining funds will be used for “state-level educational efforts” to address pandemic-related issues.

The state’s federal allotment derived from the $54 billion in relief provided in the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency (ESSER) Relief Fund II within the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations (CRRSA) Act, according to the department of education.

NCSD Business Services Director Tim Bloom told school board members on Monday, Jan. 25 that the Newton district received $1,624,713 of CRSSA funds.

Some of those dollars will be used to cover stipends for the faculty that had participated as Return to Learn team members. Funds will also be set aside for COVID leave for staff and costs for substitutes, custodial cleaning supplies and costs of staff that worked during the closure from Nov. 6-25.

Employee insurance benefits for furloughed staff will also be recoded.

“So I think once we reclassify all those expenditures we believe this money will be used up,” Bloom said. “It’s supposed to be treated like a relief and reimbursement for things that we’ve already spent. It will show up as ‘miscellaneous’ on our income on our budget.”

According to school documents, the Newton school district is working alongside the department of education to recode these funds so a reimbursement request can be made to the state. This will be considered one-time money for the district.

Additional Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) funds will be needed to work on spending. Bloom said GEER dollars can be used for technology items, like computer software, mobile hotspots and Chromebooks. Newton will work with the technology office to utilize these funds accordingly.

“So anything utilized for students and for students to teach in their classrooms — we’re able to do that and purchase with these funds,” Bloom said.

School board members will receive another update on relief funds next month.

“This will be a big impact to our budget, so this is great if we can use this as relief to cover for some of the things that we’ve already purchased,” Bloom said.

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com