PUBLIC SCHOOLS: Ivey awards $170 million for health care, remote learning

Published 3:00 am Tuesday, July 21, 2020

Public school systems throughout Alabama can now receive additional grant funding for boosting remote learning programs, hiring health care professionals and other qualifying measures that aim to prevent or reduce the spread of COVID-19 during the school year.

Gov. Kay Ivey on Monday awarded $70 million to support the Alabama State Department of Education’s Education Health and Wellness Grant Program and $100 million to support the Educational Remote Learning Devices Grant Program.

Under the health and wellness grant program, funds can be used to hire health care professionals or aides that can provide COVID-19 response or care, contract for specimen collection and testing for COVID-19, improve facilities and purchase supplies for nurses’ work areas, create isolation areas for symptomatic students, purchase screening equipment and modify school buses or other transportation vehicles.

“The health and well-being of our students, teachers and staff is a vital part of being able to deliver high-quality instruction to our students, and this has been a key priority of the state Board of Education,” state superintendent Eric Mackey said.

The second grant program deals with learning devices. Under this program, public school systems can purchase electronic devices, software and related training or maintenance services to improve remote learning in Alabama during the pandemic.

“COVID-19 greatly impacted delivery of instruction within our public schools and, in many cases, exposed our weakest areas of remote learning capabilities,” Ivey said of the programs. “… These funds will allow local schools to be flexible to meet the unique needs of their students while keeping them as safe as possible.”

According to a release from Ivey’s office, funds will be awarded “based on a formula that accounts for student enrollment, poverty levels, special education students, English learner students, student proficiency levels and the impact of COVID-19.” Systems receiving funds under the health and wellness grant program will receive a minimum of $70,000 plus whatever is calculated using the formula, according to the release.

Meanwhile, the remote learning grant program will award a minimum of $100,000 in addition to the amount determined by the formula. To qualify for this program, systems must apply for reimbursement but must also provide the following to ALSDE before spending any money:

• A remote learning plan compatible with the devices to be purchased;

• Information to ensure teachers and instructors are proficient with the operations of the devices, including technical support; and

• A plan from each school to ensure students have internet access, as well as a plan for device maintenance, including software updates, physical repairs and replacing lost or damaged devices.