Most of education virus request OK’d
The Joint Budget Committee on Thursday signed off on most of the state Department of Education’s request for $558 million in spending authority for additional federal coronavirus Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds.
The committee decided to grant $502 million, or 90%, of the request to spend money received under the federal Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021.
The panel declined to act on the department’s request for $36.4 million in spending authority for additional Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Funds.
“No one wants to hold up the funds here … but we also want to make sure we understand how those funds are going to be utilized,” said the committee co-chairman, Sen. Jonathan Dismang, R-Searcy.
A handful of lawmakers had raised concerns about reports of some school districts lacking funds for personal protective equipment and some school employees being forced to use their personal leave for covid-19-related illnesses and/or quarantines.
Greg Rogers, an assistant commissioner of fiscal and administrative services at the Education Department, told lawmakers that 90% of the federal emergency funds are required to be distributed to school districts based on their Title I allocations.
The focus areas for the funds are food security, continuing operations, personal protective equipment, technology and facility issues such as heating and air conditioning and ventilation, he said. “We are analyzing needs and opportunities for the best utilization of the 10% state set-aside funds,” Department of Education spokeswoman Kim Mundell said afterward.
“Because education has been fully funded in Arkansas, we do not have to rush to fill an emergency need, but rather we have the obligation to thoughtfully look at data to make the best decisions for use of the additional federal funds,” she said in a written statement. “The impacts of COVID-19 are not going to be erased in one academic year; therefore, we are looking beyond short-term, temporary measures and planning for supports that will have a longterm solution.”