White Co. Schools Surveying Community For ESSER 3.0 Uses

The White County School System surveying the community for feedback on how to spend ESSER 3.0 funding.

Director of Schools Kurt Dronebarger said residents of White County with ties to the school system are welcome to participate.

“The federal government came back and said we want to put some parameters on these dollars, and we want to put some rules in place on these and be a little bit more specific,” Dronebarger said. “So, they asked us to give forward facing plans and to seek public feedback.”

Dronebarger said the survey can be found on the district website until the end of the week. Dronebarger said so far, about 1,000 people have participated with school capital improvements at Bon De Croft Elementary School and the High School ranking among the top.

“We aren’t seeing a lot of surprises, but we are seeing some prioritization,” Dronebarger said. “So, it’s making us think about which needs need to come first. We have things on there such as adding staff, our building needs and different instructional technologies and textbooks.”

Dronebarger said Bon De Croft remains at the top of his own priority list.

“It is one of our older schools,” Dronebarger said. “It had a renovation several years ago, but it still has its main gymnasium that is disconnected from the rest of the school. It has a pre-k school that is disconnected. So tying those all together for safety and logistics has been a concern of mine.”

Once the survey is completed, the results will be publicly posted, Dronebarger said. Some $8 million has been allocated to the school system.