As districts around the state prepare for a return to the classroom – whether it’s in person, hybrid or virtual – schools have new money to spend.
South Dakota schools have access to more than $40 million in coronavirus relief money, and few strings are attached.
Some schools will add measures to prevent COVID-19 exposures. Others are spending it on technology or payroll. And tribal schools have a separate relief fund.
Crow Creek: Plexiglas, masks
The Crow Creek Tribal Schools serve students on the reservation in Buffalo County. The area is along the Missouri River and has about 2,000 residents. Recent state health numbers show there have been more than 100 COVID cases there – and three people in the county have died.
One of those fatal victims was a school bus driver, said Kelly Bilbrey, the tribal school superintendent. She wants to make the return to school as safe as possible for everyone.
“It's been a hotspot,” she said. “And the concerns from the surveys have also said there’s a high rate of diabetes in this community, a high rate of autoimmune diseases, so I think that’s why we’re taking the extra precautions.”
In March, Congress passed the CARES Act with money included for education. There is about $200 million available for tribal schools across the country.
Bilbrey said Crow Creek will install Plexiglass dividers around all the desks for the school’s approximately 400 students. The school will buy thermometers to test kids before they board buses. Each student will get a face mask, and they’ll use face shields for the younger kids. In addition, Bilbrey is hiring an extra nurse and school counselor.
She said it's tough to know how to spend the federal relief money.
“Nobody knows,” Bilbrey said. “I wish somebody had a plan and could just tell us, but nobody seems to have that. Everybody’s just kind of doing the same but yet different things.”
Rapid City, Mitchell: Computers
In the public K-12 system, some schools are focused on protective equipment. But many are spending more money in other areas.
Those with more disadvantaged kids get a bigger share of the money. Rapid City gets about $4.5 million. School leaders will spend most – about $3 million – on technology. Every student will have an assigned device, which is a first for the district.
Officials hope the technology will make remote learning easier if schools close again. The district estimates it lost contact with up to 40 percent of students after schools closed in March. Those students did not go online and did not turn in assignments.
Katy Urban manages communications for the district.
“We were planning it for this year, before COVID hit, to do this for our high school students,” she said of the 1-to-1 technology initiative. “But, you know, we quickly decided this was going to be a need for all of our students, especially if we were going to go between online and in-person instruction throughout the year due to the pandemic.”
Custer: Extra paraprofessionals
In Mitchell, schools already have devices for every student. That district will use much of its approximately $500,000 in federal relief aid to help replace and upgrade existing technology.
Other districts are focused on personnel. Custer Superintendent Mark Naugle is hiring extra paraprofessionals. He said kids might need one-on-one help after missing two months of in-person teaching last spring.
“The good thing about these dollars that we’re getting now is they’re very flexible,” Naugle said.
Private-school restrictions
That flexibility does not extend to private schools.
They get federal relief money through the public district they’re located in. For example, If the public district’s share is $250 per student, it must give that same amount to local private schools.
Dakota Christian School, in Corsica, is getting $16,000 from the Platte-Geddes School District. Jeremy Boer is the CEO at Dakota Christian. He said anything he purchases has to go through the public school, and the public school owns it.
“So if we were to buy like technology sorts of things – so computers, whatever – we would have to return them to Platte-Geddes once we were done using them,” Boer said.
Instead, Dakota Christian is buying cleaning supplies, hand-sanitizing stations and plastic barriers.
In all, there’s $47 million in federal coronavirus aid going to public and private schools in South Dakota. That works out to about $300 for every student.
- Seth Tupper is SDPB's business and economic development reporter.
