Fort Smith board briefed on budget for covid money

FORT SMITH — The School District now has a budget for how to spend nearly $52 million in covid-19-related money over the next three years.

The School Board received an update on the district’s Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief money during its meeting Monday.

Charles Warren, chief financial officer, said the district has $51,982,746 to address concerns related to covid-19 during the 2022-24 school years based on three allocations from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security and American Rescue Plan acts, as well as expenditures in 2020 and 2021.

Deputy Superintendent Martin Mahan said a “huge” district committee reviewed everything the district might need in response to covid-19, such as space, instructional material and strategies to address loss of learning among students. The proposals were vetted by a smaller task force, which looked for those the district could sustain going forward.

The expenditures outlined in the district’s budget from the money are divided into 12 categories. The most expensive category, at more than $16.4 million, is air quality improvements.

Warren said this involves improving ventilation in district buildings. The district will engage with stakeholders to plan how to do this as it concerns covid-19.

Another notable category in this budget is facility repair and improvement, which was allocated more than $11.27 million, of which $9.7 million is earmarked for another plan to be developed by the district and stakeholders that will address facility needs related to covid-19.

The remaining money in this budget category is dedicated to bottle-filling stations at all school sites, as well as building office space and student collaboration and testing areas for the district’s online option K-8 teachers and staff at the future Peak Innovation Center, according to Warren.

Dalton Person, a board member, asked the district to provide an update once the stakeholders’ facilities plan and a plan for the new spaces are developed, citing the costs. He made a similar request for the stakeholders’ air quality improvements plan.

Other categories covered in the district’s budget for the money are learning loss, mental health support, extended learning opportunities, educational technology, coordinating activities for digital learning, emergency response, sanitation supplies, continuity of operations and employment, food service and transportation.

Mahan noted the budget is subject to change. The budget has been submitted to the Arkansas Division of Elementary and Secondary Education, Warren said.