Rabun County Schools
TIGER-- Rabun County Schools recently received its third round of funding from the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act, Amy Pruitt, Rabun County Schools federal programs director, explained at last Thursday’s Board of Education meeting.
Rabun County Schools has been allocated $4.3 million in ARP funding.
“On March 11, 2021, the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act was signed into law. Included in this bill is $122 billion for the ARP Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ARP ESSER) Fund. Funds are provided to state educational agencies for the purpose of safely opening and sustaining safe operations in schools as well as to address the impact of the pandemic on students,” according to a handout provided by Pruitt at the meeting.
“It’s our biggest amount we’ve gotten,” Pruitt said.
She said that there are certain rules and regulations that have to be adhered to in order to use the funds. Part of it is providing a plan on specifically how the funds will be used in Rabun County Schools and giving the option for public input.
According to the handout, funds will be used in the following ways:
-Funds will be used to purchase Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), technology to reinforce our one-to-one technology initiative, and additional teachers will allow teachers to maintain the meet needs in the classroom.
-Summer school for grades Pre-k-12
-Addition of teachers to serve students for additional support
-Additional of a counselor to work with students on socio-emotional and mental health needs
-School supplies
-PPE supplies and cleaning materials
-Technology equipment
-Kitchen equipment for preparation of student meals
-Substitute teachers
“While our students have made progress in closing the learning gap that we’ve identified through a variety of data sources, a gap does still exist for a percentage of our students. Students will be selected for interventions based on MAP scores, Milestones scores, ACCESS scores, and teacher made assessments and recommendations,” according to the handout.
Pruitt said that anyone with questions or concerns is welcome to contact her at 706-212-4350.
In other business, Rabun County Schools employees of the month for April 2021 were recognized.
Rabun County Primary School: Anne Marie Watts and Robin Krivsky
Rabun County Elementary School: Taylor Hunnicutt and Albert Giovino
Rabun County Middle School: Emily Lovelady and Lisa Gibson
Rabun County High School: April Jones and Jennifer Ramey
Transportation: Pat Isom
Nutrition: Adrianne Thomason
County office: Melissa Wolfrey
Cindi Dean, director of business operations and human resources, gave the financial report and said that sales tax and SPLOST collections have increased.
“The collections we received in April are at almost 33 percent,” Dean said about sales tax collection. “That’s just phenomenal. We’re very excited about that.”
Funds the school received in April were $394,589.27, whereas funds received in March were $326,813.40.
SPLOST funds received in April were $394,492.84. That’s an increase from March when SPLOST collections were $326,813.42.
Officials also gave a nutrition report and said that COVID-19 has affected the supper program more than any other program in the school.
It was reported that 60 percent of students were served breakfast and 78 percent served lunch in April.
About 300 students signed up to attend summer school.