Schools report $68.2 million in final phase of pandemic-relief spending; positions added due to enrollment increase

A week before the deadline, Pitt County Schools has spent the last of its pandemic-relief federal funding, some $68.2 million, the district reported Monday.

Chief Finance Officer Michael Hardy told the Board of Education that PCS had fully expended the funds it received in phase three of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief, a $190 billion program created by the federal government to help schools respond to COVID-19 and recover from its effects. ESSER III money, supplemental funding approved as part of the American Rescue Plan Act in March 2021, is due to expire Sept. 30.

PCS spent the bulk of the funding it received — about $22 million — on learning loss recovery, paying for substitute teachers, instructional software and devices, classroom cameras and audio equipment and professional development workshops. The school district spent an additional $7.7 million on summer learning.

“Learning loss was the main category for most of this funding,” Hardy said. “We had a requirement that 20% of federal grant funding had to be toward learning loss. With where we’re at in terms of total expenditures in the learning loss category, we’re around 31%.”

District 4 representative Don Rhodes praised Hardy for maximizing use of available funding to provide for schools’ needs.

District 9 representative Benjie Forrest questioned whether or not PCS would be able to continue to offer Career and Technical Education summer camps now that ESSER funding has expired. Interim Superintendent Steve Lassiter said that there may be some state funding available for future camps.

“I’d have traded all that money away if we never had that pandemic,” Forrest said. “It’s cost us a whole lot more than $68 million.”

About $13.3 million in ESSER III dollars went toward pay supplements to aid with retention, hard-to-fill positions, additional training and certification and to compensate employees for additional responsibilities assigned during the pandemic.

PCS spent about $12.6 million on air quality improvements. Of that, $10.2 million was for HVAC, with nine of the more than three dozen schools in the district having units renovated or replaced. The remainder of the air quality funding went toward flooring replacement.

Other ESSER expenditures included: $2 million for coordination of preparedness efforts; $1.7 million for facility repairs and improvements, including playground equipment and marquees for six high schools; $1.3 million on special populations; $614,000 on mental health services; $377,000 on sanitizing supplies; and $144,000 on educational technology. About $6.2 million went toward other expenses, including indirect costs.

Teacher vacancies

Twenty days into the new academic year, while some schools are still looking to fill teacher vacancies, others have had to add positions due to increased enrollment.

Interim Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Delilah Jackson told school board members at Monday’s work session meeting that five new positions were created to accommodate increasing numbers of students at Eastern, Bethel, Hope and Pactolus schools.

Just before the start of school in August, Jackson reported to the board that there were 48 vacancies for teachers. Although that number dipped to 38 in recent weeks, the added positions brought the total of classroom vacancies back up to 43.

Current available classroom teaching positions include 13 in elementary grades, 11 in high schools, 10 in K-8 schools and nine in middle schools, along with five support positions. Two teaching candidates are pending final approval from human resources.

“There are 10 vacancies that are EC (exceptional children), and we know that’s one of our hard-to-fill positions,” Jackson said. “Support personnel ranges from instructional coaches, media coordinator, graduation coach.”

The number of vacancies for classified positions stands at 23. Pitt County Schools has current openings for 15 teacher assistants, six custodians and twp bus drivers.

“There are a variety of areas that our vacancies are in, but we are working very hard to fill them,” Jackson said. “We’re doing all types of efforts to try to fill our vacancies.”

She said some CTE positions have been filled since last month’s report, although family and consumer science positions remain. She said the district has some full-time substitute teachers with classroom experience, including retirees that have agreed to return until positions could be filled.

Jackson said that PCS will continue to rely on multi-classroom teachers and instructional coaches to fill in where needed and that some support will come from virtual instructors.

District 6 representative Worth Forbes said he is particularly concerned about vacancies in exceptional children’s programs, where knowledge of each student’s Individualized Education Program (IEP) is necessary.

Jackson said Pitt County Schools is contracting with former EC teachers and administrators to fill gaps until more teachers can be hired.

“We’re making it work. We’re using all hands on deck,” she said. “We’re pulling all avenues of anyone who has the ability and skill and want to help us out with our classrooms.”