On Thursday, March 11, 2021, President Biden signed into law a $1.9 trillion stimulus package, H.R. 1319, better known as the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021, to provide much needed COVID-19 relief. This plan includes an additional $122 billion for K-12 schools. Approved uses for K-12 schools include school facility repairs, especially ventilations systems to improve indoor air quality and reduce the spread of COVID-19. Improved indoor air quality includes a broad range of uses including maintenance, repairs, improvements, replace and/or upgrading the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems for schools.
H.R. 1319 provides federal funds may be used for “inspection, testing, maintenance, repair, replacement, and upgrade projects to improve the indoor air quality in school facilities, including mechanical and non-mechanical heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems, filtering, purification and other air cleaning, fans, control systems, and window and door repair and replacement.”
According to the California Department of Education, the “Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act provides funding to local educational agencies (LEA) through Section 18003 of the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund, to address the impact of COVID-19 on elementary and secondary schools. A broad range of uses allow school principals and others school leaders to use these funds to address the needs of their individual schools.
California K-12 schools will receive a total of $26.4 billion in funding from the three federal stimulus relief packages: the CARES Act of March 2020; Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSA) Relief Package from December 2020; and ARPA of March 2021.
The Center of Disease Control (CDC) provides ventilation and HVAC guidelines for schools and childcare programs in order to maintain healthy and safe learning environments.
To find out how much a particular California school district and charter school will receive in COVID Relief, go to https://edsource.org/2021/california-districts-and-charter-schools-get-covid-relief-funding-under-american-rescue-plan-act/650922.