Nassau County, NY – Nassau County Executive Laura Curran released a survey today for school officials to help swiftly administer ELC Reopening Schools funding to the independent public and private schools in Nassau County. New York State recently announced that Nassau County is set to receive just over $19 million in Federal funding (via ELC Reopening Schools) to distribute to schools for COVID-19 testing, and related expenses.
“Our school districts have done a fantastic job navigating this pandemic and we are committed to making sure they can continue to safely deliver a top-notch education to our children. Our schools had to pick up the cost of adjusting to new protocols and mandates in order to reopen their doors and Nassau will continue to assist our school districts to receive the funding they need to keep our children in the classroom,” said County Executive Curran
In order to ensure an efficient and streamlined process for schools interested in receiving ELC funding, Nassau County will assist by administering the funds for this program. To understand the needs of schools, the County is requesting each district and private school institution responds to a brief survey, sent to each district today, to help the County gauge interest and need. The County expects to have the results of the survey by September 23 and is aiming to accept formal applications through the Boost Nassau Portal by mid-October.
The categories of allowable expenses for ELC Funds include:
- Personnel
- Laboratory equipment used for COVID-19 testing
- Collection supplies, test kits, reagents, consumables, and other necessary supplies
- Personal Protective Equipment
- Hygiene and cleaning supplies
- Hardware and software necessary for reporting to public health
- Tools that assist in the rapid identification, electronic reporting, monitoring, analysis, and evaluation of control measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19, that may be translatable to other diseases (e.g., GIS software, visualization dashboards, cloud services).
- Contracts with academic institutions, private laboratories, other non-commercial healthcare entities, and/or commercial entities that may provide all or part of the screening testing needs.
- Software or systems to assist with laboratory resource management, quality management, biosafety, or training needs.
- Leasing/purchasing vehicles and/or costs associated with transporting individuals to get tested
- Portable high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) fan/filtration systems
- Expenses associated with outreach and assistance
School districts were among the many institutions that incurred unexpected expenses due to COVID-19. Expenses like new HVAC filters, new barriers in classrooms and communal spaces, enhanced cleaning, and many other costs put a burden on their budgets, which in turn can be passed onto the local taxpayer. Earlier this year, the County began to offer consulting services to school districts to help them navigate FEMA reimbursements, ESSER funding and additional grant assistance to help protect taxpayers and make sure schools can maximize federal dollars. Districts interested in this assistance can contact the County by calling 516-281-6144.
“Our school districts have done a tremendous job throughout the pandemic under incredibly difficult circumstances,” said Dr. Robert R. Dillon, District Superintendent for Nassau BOCES. “We are grateful that the County and especially County Executive Laura Curran continues to recognize the needs of the school districts and look for ways to support them.”
“We are looking forward to working with Nassau County Executive Laura Curran to ensure that available funding is expeditiously allocated to best address the needs of our school districts. We look forward to receiving the County’s survey and I am sure our school district superintendents will make responding to the survey a high priority,” said NCCSS President Dr. Tonie McDonald.