Raleigh, NC – Representative John Bell (Greene,Johnston and Wayne) announced today that North Carolina schools are set to receive supplemental state funding for dealing with COVID-19 related issues. Each school system will receive funding based upon a formula that is weighted 50% the number of students (ADM) and 50% on low wealth classification.

In NC House District 10, this amounts to $122,917 for Greene County Public Schools, $1,472,409 for Johnston County Public Schools and $737,783 for Wayne County Public Schools.

According to North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (DPI), each school system should begin receiving funding later this week. A full list of allocations per school unit can be found on the DPI website by clicking here, which includes a “Question and Answer” document.

The funding can be used for:

·        School nutrition (includes food purchases, cafeteria workers,drivers, nutritional admin/support)

·        School and community-based child care (daycare/before/after school care, snacks, materials)

·        Cleaning and sanitizing schools and buses (includes materials,supplies, custodial pay)

·        Protective equipment

·        Remote learning (reproduction of hard copy packets,instructional software, telecommunications, EC materials, devices)

“I am glad to share some positive news. These funds will go a long way in helping school systems better support remote learning, school nutrition, child care and much more,” said Rep. John Bell. “Our people are hurting, and we will continue to try to find ways to help them. We have a lot of community members that are really suffering financially. Many are scared, and very frustrated with the threat of the virus and the stay at home order. I promise to keep working to make sure we get through this crisis together.”

The additional funding comes from $38.5 million from the 2019 -2020 Summer Camp Reading funds,$2.97 million from money left over in the same fund from the prior year, $5.48 million from the statewide carry forward reserve, and a little over $3 million from the State Emergency Disaster Reserve.