NASD deadline for American Rescue Plan Act funding looms

NATCHEZ — Natchez Adams School District has little more than a month left to obligate the remaining $12 million allocated to the district from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.

However, there have been requests from the Mississippi Department of Education to the federal government to extend the deadline to 2026, officials said.

The ARPA fund provided more than $1.6 billion in relief to K-12 schools across Mississippi beginning in March 2021. The funds, known as the Elementary and Secondary School Relief (ESSER) Fund, were intended to help schools address the impact of COVID-19. As of August 2024, more than $422 million of the funds remained unspent.

The deadline to have ESSER funds obligated, with any binding contracts signed, is Sept. 30. The current liquidation deadline — the deadline for each district to request reimbursement — is December 30, 2024. However, MDE Federal Programs Executive Director Dr. Judy Nelson has said MDE plans to request an extension to the liquidation deadline to February 2026.

Of more than $20 million allocated to NASD in the final phase of ESSER, its remaining $12 million allocation is earmarked for the following projects: $4.5 million for HVAC and restroom renovations at each of the three elementary schools including McLaurin, Morgantown, and Susie B West Elementary; $6.7 million for the renovation at the Steckler multi-purpose building to pe used as a fine arts building; and $800,000 to replace all of the exterior doors at the elementary schools.

The $800,000 supports the School Violence Prevention Program grant to enhance school safety and access controls.

“We have worked diligently to take care of all of our allocation,” said Superintendent Zandra McDonald during the Tuesday meeting of the school board. She further requested the school board to begin seeking proposals on the door replacements so that it might be done in time.

“As you all are aware, we have aged facilities and we want to update those exterior doors and hardware because it’s very difficult to find replacement (parts) for those doors when there is a need for repairs.”

McDonald said renovations are ongoing in the elementary buildings — though the school year has already started in full swing.
“We knew that the cosmetically, those buildings would not be as pretty and nice as we would hope they would be at the start of school, but I would like to applaud the custodial teams … All of the elementary schools, those teams worked overtime to make certain that our buildings were in a condition that was acceptable for our students. Again, not perfect, but in the condition that we could open them and have school without issue or concerns about student or staff safety.”

School Board Vice President Phillip West said though MDE has requested a deadline extension, “We can’t count on it. We just got to get done what we’re trying to get done so we don’t find ourselves in a situation where we would have to return any of those federal dollars.”

Used ESSER funds were expended on HVAC, restroom and health and safety improvements at each of the remaining schools. Early spending used to mitigate COVID-19 spread included air purification systems, desk guards and clips to ensure safe distancing among students in classrooms and cafeterias, disposable face masks, backpack sprayers to deep clean classrooms and offices, and bottled water for students after water fountains were disabled and later updated with water bottle fillers.

The district also funded COVID-19 staffing needs including an additional school nurse and two technology coaches to support teachers with providing digital instruction. Social workers have also been deployed to schools to address students’ emotional needs on top of their academic needs. Funds were also used to provide professional development for teachers and administrators, to purchase new curriculum and instructional resources to target accelerating learning for students and to provide an after-school tutoring program to reduce COVID-19-related learning loss and provide social services for students.

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