InMaricopa
Maricopa High School basketball players gather around masked head coach Paul Gretkierewicz during a March 2021 game. Photo by Sammantha Herbaugh
A variety of COVID-19 mitigation measures allowed the Maricopa Unified School District to reopen classrooms and enable students to learn in person.
Many of those expensive measures were paid for with federal stimulus funds.
According to MUSD business manager Jacob Harmon, the district has received $7.2 million in federal stimulus monies over the past year, with another $9.5 million pledged but not yet received.
All told, MUSD will receive a total of $16.7 million to address needs arising from the pandemic. The initial payment came in the form of a $1.5 million Enrollment Stabilization Grant, Harmon said.
Districts work to enroll students amid concerns over funding shortfalls
Districts and charters face possible funding shortfall.
and last updated 2021-01-27 18:55:14-05
The state of education is still in flux as students and teachers navigate so many unknowns.
Right now districts and charters are focused on enrolling students for the fall and those numbers will be critical in helping schools rebound.
It s not how most families envision learning about kindergarten, a drive-thru event with car-side conversations. It s very interesting, it s different, said Julia Hunt, whose daughter is entering kindergarten in the fall. It s a little challenging, this helps out a lot, being able to get some information straight from the teachers and the principals and everything, said Ryan Goins, whose son is entering kindergarten.
What lower than expected Enrollment Stabilization Grant funding means for schools
Enrollment Stabilization Grants that they learned about in letters they received just last week.
In June 2020, Gov. Doug Ducey set aside $370 million in federal
CARES Act funds for
Enrollment Stabilization Grants to help protect schools’ budgets against an anticipated decline in enrollment due to the COVID-19 pandemic by ensuring that schools received at least 98 percent of their previous year’s state funding.
But requests for the funding were more than the money allocated for it, so reductions were made in the amounts that schools received.
“The estimator tool indicated that we would receive $6.5 million; however, the proportional deduction statewide reduced our allocation down to about $5.2 million,” said Renée Ryon, director of communications & public relations for