FARMINGTON — On Tuesday evening, Aug. 25, Superintendent Tina Meserve presented Regional School Unit 9 board directors the proposed breakdown as to how the district will spend the $2.2 million federal coronavirus relief grant.
The proposed budget includes seven categories that will appropriate funding to the following areas:
Category A: Additional Buses/Vans $452,750
Category B: Facilities Rentals, Rentals and/or modifications to meet CDC guidelines $20,727
Category C: Materials and supplies including signage, Plexiglass dividers, communication, cleaning supplies $633,292
Category D: Equipment related to nutrition services $86,400
Category E: Contracted services, temporary or substitute pay, additional staff hours $295,641
Category F: Professional development $103,500
Category G: Technology related costs $617,774
The State Department of Education and the Center for Disease Control requires students to maintain 3 feet of space from others during transport and while at school. RSU 9 will have to invest in additional transportation vehicles to accommodate the social distancing guidelines.
The district will also spend federal funding on storage facilities where items such as desks and tables can be stored to make more room in classrooms for social distancing.
The food service department will also receive funding due to the high volume of disposable packaging that cafeterias will be utilizing to minimize contact.
Meserve said that category E was the most difficult to budget for since it is still unknown as to how often the district will need to call in substitute teachers. The district will use the additional federal funding to increase the entry level substitute teacher day rate from $85 to $140.
Meserve also presented a sample schedule of a remote learning day for kindergarten. The schedule divides students into two virtual cohorts that will rotate intervals of 15 minutes to 1 hour of guided instruction with remote teachers. When students are not receiving guided instruction, they will have independent work or will be broken into online subgroups for peer study time.
During public comment, a parent voiced their concerns about the late arrival of devices to aid students through remote learning days of RSU 9’s hybrid plan. Meserve said that based on survey results, the district currently has sufficient devices and hotspots to offer the 30% of families without devices and the 12% in need of internet.
The district expects to receive devices for students in mid to late September due to backlogs in shipping.
In other business, the Board approved Dr. Emily Jacobs as the new school physician.
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