News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Expansion of Upperman High School and roof replacement highlight Putnam County Schools ESSER 3.0 spending plan.
The system will receive $20.6 million in the third round of federal funding. Federal Programs Supervisor Bridgett Carwile said $11.5 million is allocated for the project.
“They’re at 105 percent capacity there at Upperman, and so, that is definitely a need, especially with COVID still out there and the need for social distancing,” Carwile said. “We’re looking at that for an allowable expenditure of this money.”
Carwile said the project is in the preliminary stages with most details not known at this time. Carwile said before the school gets the money, the state most approve the spending plan, which is due August 27th.
“I am actually working on that pre-approval request today,” Carwile said. “So hopefully, we can get that sent off and get that approval and go ahead and submit our budget. There is several documents that we have to do for documentation purposes showing we have surveyed our community and showing we’ve been very transparent.”
As for learning loss, some $6.7 million has been set outside. Carwile said three new positions will be made to gain ground in Math and Language Arts for all grades.
“When they talk about learning loss, they are talking about those students who are needing some type of intervention,” Carwile said. “So, we are looking at adding additional personnel at the high school level as well as all of our elementary and middle schools to help close that learning loss gap.”
Carwile said a new social emotional curriculum will also be purchased as well as two other positions for mental health. Carwile said the areas of spending were identified by surveys completed by the community.
