Evers to give $80M to K-12 and colleges
Funding is part of $3B from federal CARES Act
MADISON - Gov. Tony Evers will give more than $80 million to K-12 schools and higher education institutions to mitigate financial losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the governor announced Wednesday.
Of the total, $46.6 million will go to K-12 schools and $37 million to colleges and universities.
“I’ve always said what’s best for our kids is what’s best for our state, so I am hopeful this funding can help alleviate expenses already incurred and further creative efforts to transition between in-person learning and distance learning seamlessly as we prepare for the upcoming fall semester and continue to fight COVID-19 in Wisconsin,”
Evers said in a statement.
The emergency funding comes from more than $3 billion in federal dollars the state received to fight COVID-19 under the CARES Act. Evers has discretion to assign $2 billion of the money to wherever he sees fit. Last week, he designated $40 million to Wisconsin hospitals.
While more than $354 million has already been designated to K-12 schools and higher education institutions through the CARES Act by Congress, this additional K-12 funding will specifically prioritize students and districts that have the “highest remote learning needs.” The money will come from the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund, umbrellaed under the CARES Act.
The $37 million for higher ed, coming directly from the CARES Act, can be used to reimburse necessary, unbudgeted expenditures made in response to the pandemic.
As of now, UW System’s 13 schools will be open this fall, but how they operate will vary from campus to campus. They’re facing large additional costs when considering what reopening will actually look like.
But the cost of not reopening also remains high, as campuses struggle with losses associated with this spring’s shutdown.
According to data presented to the Board of Regents at the beginning of the month, the system anticipates a total loss of more than $100 million through the end of the summer, even taking into account the emergency federal funding they’ve received.
The UW System will receive $20 million of the funding, coming just as UWMadison and UW-Milwaukee announced their plans to reopen for the fall Wednesday.
The money will help offset the cost of technology infrastructure, personal protective equipment and other expenses, UW System President Ray Cross said, but said more help will be needed.
“This funding is a welcome first step in helping our institutions manage costs brought on by the pandemic, but further support is needed to meet the growing and changing challenges,” Cross said.
UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee, the two biggest schools in the UW system, are receiving almost 40% of the allocated funding. The distribution is mainly based on the number of full-time equivalent Pell Grant recipients enrolled at each university prior to the pandemic.
Additionally, tribal colleges will receive $2 million in funding, with the remaining money going to UW, technical colleges and private, nonprofit campuses in the state.