Districts complete application for CARES Act money

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WBRC) - CARES Act money for pandemic relief is set to roll out to schools in Alabama soon. The state got millions of dollars in relief from the COVID package passed by Congress in December.

State Superintendent Dr. Eric Mackey reports Alabama got about $899 million in CARES ACT money. He met with superintendents last week to go over how money can be used and expects to see district leaders start submitting applications to get their chunk of money this week.

“Want to make those funds available in the next two weeks, but had to get guidance from the Department of Education,” said Dr. Mackey.

Of the $899 million approved by Congress is the second disbursement of money from Washington to provide pandemic relief in schools, 90 percent of the money by law will go to local districts for relief funding. An allocation breakdown found on the state department of education’s website showed large districts like Jefferson County expect to get about 29 million and Hoover City Schools about 3 million.

Dr. Mackey says your child’s district is likely completing a needs assessment that has leaders work though a list of what their students and staff currently require based on how the money allocated can be used.

“What are their needs from everything to learning loss to acquiring high quality instructional materials, professional development, or mental social emotional needs,” said Dr. Mackey.

Dr. Mackey said the money can also go towards facility upgrades.

The state superintendent says he will also use about $30 million from the state reserve fund as an additional supplement to help with pandemic learning recovery.

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