FULTON – The Fulton City School District Board of Education met last night, May 25, and discussed anticipated federal stimulus funds’ guidelines and the process to use them.
Director of Finance Kathy Nichols overviewed the month of April’s budget report, which has mostly lined up very similarly to last year’s revenue and spending. Nichols said the district’s supply spending has been on the low side compared to last year, but expects that to increase with classroom purchases for the next academic school year.
Superintendent Brian Pulvino then gave an update on federal stimulus funds. The Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSAA) and the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) equate to about 12% of a total general fund for a typical school district.
FCSD ratified its 2021-2022 budget last week. The district will be receiving $52,224,921 in state aid, $21,613,705 from the tax levy, $2,034,500 in other revenues, and will use $356,874 of its reserves for the $76,230,000 budget.
Fulton has $4,256,277 available in CRRSAA funding and $10,258,994 available in ARPA funding. These funds are a one-time occurrence only and both must be used with specific parameters the funding can be used for.
In general, the allowable uses include: reserve at least 20% of allocation to address learning loss; any activity authorized by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act; activities to address the unique needs of low-income children or students, children with disabilities, English learners, racial and ethnic minorities, students experiencing homelessness, and foster care youth.
The state budget requires school districts to develop a multi-year plan for use of federal ARPA funding, including to prioritize spending on non-recurring expenses.
Tying back to the district’s coherence plan, the targeted areas for federal stimulus funds are as follows:
- Leadership: enhancements and strengthening of multi-tiered systems of support at all tiers, and enhance and improve district-wide professional learning community structures.
- Literacy: reading and math interventionists, and expansion of Oswego County Literacy Initiative/Language Essentials to Teaching Reading and Spelling to upper grade levels.
- Instruction: K-12 summer programs for students and additional instructional coaches.
- Social-emotional developmental health: Additional direct service support for social-emotional needs, and additional support to build staff capacity and wellness.
- Family engagement: Expansion of Parent University, and expansion of Community school initiatives.
- Innovation: Establish Pre K-12 interdisciplinary pathways toward graduation and beyond (ex. STEM), and health and safety systems (ex. ventilation improvements.)
“I believe there are some staff we have in Fulton that are going to be very interested, possibly, in some of these opportunities,” Pulvino said. “We’re poised nicely to be able to infuse new people into our systems on recognizing the fact that we want to create something that’s sustainable and has capacity over time.”
The timeline for the district’s federal stimulus funds is as follows:
- June 8: Present a tentative final draft of the initial plan to the board.
- June 8 through June 25: Public comment
- June 15: Submit final plan for CRRSAA.
- June 22: Draft plan for ARPA to BOE.
- July 1: Submit and post ARPA.
There will be ongoing feedback from stakeholders and adjustments made to the plans.
“It’s an opportunity for us to change the future and the future of many, many thousands of kids’ lives, not only in the next school year, but in many beyond,” Pulvino said.
For the full agenda, visit here, and to view the full meeting, watch the video provided above.
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Does this school district ever stop sucking up money??