MCPS board to enhance summer school program with federal pandemic relief funds

File photo: Superintendent Diane Gullett listens during a meeting of the Marion County Public School Board at the MTI auditorium in Ocala, Fla. on Tuesday, April 26, 2022. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2022.

The Marion County school district this year will receive a grant of $8.7 million, the final infusion of federal relief funds tied to the COVID-19 pandemic. Officials intend to use the money for a comprehensive six-week K-12 summer school program this year.

The money comes from the federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund, (ESSER), which was created in March 2020 as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

The goal was to provide assistance to state and local education agencies, according to the Florida Department of Education. More funding came in December 2020 and March 2021 through the American Rescue Plan (ARP). The funding continued into 2022 and will terminate in September.

Summer school 2023 will focus on core academic subjects including literacy, science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), according to the district. All students will have access to the summer school program and half of the elementary schools will be serving as host sites.

Marion County School Board Vice-Chair Nancy Thrower explained the significance of the funding.

“All of these ESSER funds have provided an incredible amount of money, it’s big support to help our kids,’’ she said. “The summer program has been so well-received by everybody. The teachers who taught in the last couple summers have seemed to enjoy it.

“The kids have certainly benefitted from it, and I have heard nothing but great feedback from families,’’ Thrower said. “I get the feeling we are going to be missing this eight million, 744 thousand, 836 dollars going forward.”

With the ESSER funding going away, the school board and other district leaders will have to find new ways to keep the program going.

“As a board, we’re going to need to be mindful of what we can do to continue to provide high-quality summer programming,” Thrower said.

Board chair Allison Campbell echoed that sentiment, adding, “I’m excited for what the team is putting together.”

The project plans state that summer school 2023 will include a variety of instructional models including whole group, small group and one-on-one targeted instruction. Resources will be secured to offer hands-on, highly engaging learning opportunities specific to each subject and grade level.

The financial breakdown was included in the application:

Salaries for other certified personnel such as site coordinators, content area specialists and school counselors will total $372,523.

The 470 classroom teachers for K-12 summer school programs will cost $2.1 million.

Plans call for hiring 127 paraprofessionals and 32 ESOL paraprofessionals, for a total of $357,655.

The 25 ESE self-contained teachers, 45 ESE support facilitators and 6 ESE VPK teachers will cost $345,265.

Other materials and supplies such as STEM labs/Makerspaces, Do the Math Workspaces, Learn it by Art Integration Math kits, B.E.S.T Book sets, STEMscopes Hands on Kits and the remaining supplies will add up to $1.2 million.

“When the money runs out, we just have to be mindful of what that looks like in 2024 and beyond,” Campbell said.