Sunday, July 12, 2020

Wisconsin schools -- public, private and charter -- see millions in COVID-19 relief funds

From JSOnline:

Annysa Johnson
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel




Schools across Wisconsinhave been awarded more than $200 million in COVID-19 relief funds, according to a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel analysis of state and federal data.
Most of that, about $155 million, is to go to traditional public school districts — more than a third of it to Milwaukee Public Schools, based on the number of students in poverty it serves.
But other education sectors also have benefited. More than 110 private and independent charter schools and organizations that operate them have received between $50 million and $122 million in low-interest, forgivable loans under the Payroll Protection Plan.
And a small group of charter school operators has qualified for both pools of money, totaling at least $3 million.

The infusion of cash, through the federal CARES Act, comes as schools struggle to quantify what it might cost to reopen in the fall amid a host of unknowns created by the coronavirus pandemic. One national study estimated the additional cost of reopening for an average district with about 3,600 students and eight buildings at almost $1.8 million.
Milwaukee Public Schools, the state's largest district with almost 75,000 students, said Thursday that it has spent more than $20 million in COVID-related costs since the pandemic began.

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