Upper Adams School District (UASD) Business Administrator Shelly Hobbes presented a high-level overview of district funding to the school board Tuesday.
The Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency initiates (PCCD) grant recently came out of the state budget, she said.
PCCD initiates financial investments in programs to improve an agency’s mission and strategic priorities. Administration of federal and state funding programs is one of PCCD’s core responsibilities.
Previous funding received by the district included just shy of $212,000 of Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) and $851,000 dollars was received through the ESSER II funds, also known as the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSA Act).
The district also received $1.7 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding.
Now with the PCCD funding, there are two “buckets” of which the district can spend the money from: dual school mental health, and physical school safety at $126,086 each for a total of $252,172.
“They are very designated on what we can spend those items on,” she said.
Each funding bucket has Tier One, Tier Two, and Tier Three requirements and all conditions of one tier must be met before moving on to the next tier.
Each tier includes examples of what the funding can be spent on, Doll said, and the district will determine what is needed and where the money can be targeted.
Understanding that every district is different, it is nonetheless recognized that everything in the tier must be completed.
There is a very narrow scope of what the district can spend the funds on, and funding is good for 24 months based upon approval date, she said.
As the district looks ahead to planning budgets and what the funding will be used for, 2024 going into 2025 “is going to be a very key year, ” Hobbs said.
The district has already begun initial conversations and will continue to meet as a team to discuss and put priorities together.
The district has until August 31 to submit applications for the PCCD, and if an application is awarded, the district can begin spending the funds.
“The timing isn’t real great with the beginning of the school year, but we will get it done,” Superintendent Wesley Doll said.
In other business it was noted, the board approved to support the Canner Funds Board grant proposal to the Adams County Community Foundation with a $30,000.00 contribution from the UASD for the updated Greenhouse Project. This contribution would be paid from the Capital Reserve Fund.
The Canner Fund will also once again participate in the annual Adams County Giving Spree November 3.
A mutual separation agreement was approved between the Upper Adams School District and Questeq.
Global Data Consultants, LLC will be utilized starting at the beginning of the school year.
The board approved the Superintendent’s wage increase including a mutually modified cost of living adjustment (COLA) of 4.2 percent. There was no merit increase based on the board’s evaluation of the 2021 calendar year as per the Superintendent Agreement.
The board recognized the guidance and leadership of Doll that has exceeded expectations, particularly driving the district forward through the last few challenging years.
“It’s not that you didn’t earn a merit raise, it’s just that it didn’t fit in,” board member Ron Ebbert said.
With the district’s COVID health and safety plan approved, UASD will continue to monitor case numbers and report to the state as they come in.
“We’re really looking forward to all the students and staff coming back to us,” Doll said,
Masks remain optional and it is continually greatly encouraged to keep sick kids home.
Preparations for reopening school prep have been going on all month and the UASD first day of school is August 24.
The school board will next meet for a curriculum and Extra Curricular Committee and Business and Operations Committee meeting September 6, and the next regular board meeting will be September 20.
A.L. Grabenstein, reporter, is a graduate of Philadelphia's La Salle University with a B.A in Communication and has been a journalist since 2016. She has reported for the Gettysburg Times and the Times Herald in Norristown, PA. Grabenstein moved to Gettysburg from Montgomery County in 2019. She was born in San Antonio, TX., and previously lived in Virginia, and North Carolina. Grabenstein is actively involved in the borough of Gettysburg and loves giving voices to the local community.