Plum School District to seek state covid-19 relief

Plum School District officials are seeking state assistance to recoup covid-related expenses.

School board members voted 8-0 on Oct. 27 to make district chief financial officer John Zahorchak its agent to apply for relief through the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency.

Board member Angela Anderson was absent.

Zahorchak said Plum is in the process of applying for $130,000 in state assistance, and he expects to get at least 75% of the request.

It is unclear how much more spending was done by the district in response to the ongoing pandemic.

“The thing you can’t be ready for is the amount of cleaning products, extra staffing needs that we’ve had to encounter to make sure the buildings are cleaned and sanitized,” board President Mike Devine said. “John put us in a great spot financially. Anything that we can get from the state will help recoup the funds that we haven’t budgeted for with covid coming in.”

The district received about $278,000 in federal assistance through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act.

Zahorchak said those funds were used to purchase Chromebooks for all kindergarten through third-grade students for online and hybrid learning.

The district is in the process of acquiring about $258,000 in federal monies through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund.

Zahorchak said that would fund the district’s cyber academy.

The cyber academy has a different curriculum than the district’s flex online option. Both are taught by district teachers.

More information about the district’s educational options for families is available at pbsd.net.

All motions made at the meeting passed unanimously except for personnel.

Board member Michelle Stepnick abstained. She has done so for several months because position information and names of people to be voted on are not released until after action is taken.

The personnel agenda is posted to the district website shortly after a vote.

The meeting was virtual instead of an in-person session at the high school. Devine said it was handled that way as a precaution after two students at the high school tested positive for covid-19 earlier this month.

Meetings might return to the high school in November.

The board sessions, including discussion meetings, are recorded and uploaded onto the district’s YouTube channel.