COVID-19 and Orange County Schools, NC
Where did all the money go that was meant to combat COVID-19 in Orange County Schools?
As school has started for the 2023-24 school year for Orange County Schools in NC communication has been sent out to parents about covid19 protocols. The following covid19 guidance was in the weekly newsletter emailed to parents of Orange High School from principal Jason Johnson:
Student Covid19 + Google Form OHS 23-24
If you have tested positive for Covid 19, please fill out the form below. Isolation is for 5 full days after the onset of symptoms or if no symptoms 5 full days after the test date. On day 6, you may come off isolation if your symptoms have improved and you have been fever-free for 24 hours prior without any medication. You will need to wear a mask for the following days 6-10. If your symptoms have not improved and/or you have had a fever 24 hours prior, you will need to continue to isolate and contact your healthcare provider for further isolation guidance. Please communicate with your teacher about any missed work during isolation.
The covid-19 guidance that the district decimated does not align with NCDHHS when it comes to masking. According to NCDHHS masks can be removed earlier than day 10, following two negative antigen tests conducted after the 5 day isolation period and 48 hours apart. However, the CDC and the Orange County Health Department have different guidance when one tests positive or was exposed to covid19.
So why did Orange County Schools (OCS) decide to omit the information about a shorter time frame for masking after testing positive for covid19? Why did they choose to leave out guidance coming from the State?
After reaching out to lead nurse of Orange County Schools, Sylvia Compton, it became clear. In an email Ms. Compton shared the following:
Masks can come off earlier than 10 days with 2 negative antigen tests done 48 hours apart after the 5 days of isolation. So in theory the earliest it can come off is on or after day 8, they can unmask up to 2 days early. The issue is who is going to follow up and monitor that? We have over 1200 students at OHS and one nurse at that school. There is no way she or any school nurse will be able to keep up with all of this and follow up and get proof and let staff know along with our daily duties. We are already working on having to keep up with positive cases and any linkages to report clusters. Covid funding has ended and there is no extra help for us in this area. We are choosing to err on the side of caution and being as safe as possible. If we all do one thing then there is an increased chance of reducing the spread of this virus within our schools.
The glaring issue of concern in her response is that OCS is leaving out information from State health guidance to fit the needs of the district because they do not have the funding or the staff.
So where did all the covid19 money go? Why did the district not allocate more into helping school nurses address covid19?
Covid-19 relief funds were made available from State and Federal agencies. ESSER funds poured into public schools in the form or CRF, ESSER I, GEER I, ESSER II, and ESSER III. The purpose of these funds was to be used to support activities that reduce and prevent the spread of covid19 and activities in response to covid19, as well as a percent required to be put towards learning loss.
OCS was allocated $11,965,956 in ESSER funds; ESSER II (CRRSA) $3,695,756 and ESSER III(ARPA) $8,270,200. In addition they received a $500K grant from NCDHHS. ESSER funds were to be spent over the course of three schools years and set to expire in 2024. The NCDHSS grant was approved in November 2022. The school board voted on where these funds would be allocated.
If what Sylvia Compton stated is true then there is no more covid funding left to put towards reducing and preventing covid19 in schools. According to OCS spending plan for ESSER funds, there are funds that were unallocated and funds that are no longer needed due to the original allocation being a cancelled program like the OCS Online Academy. Public Schools were notified by the Office of Learning and Recovery in early June of a request for any voluntary return of ESSER II funding. The form and process may be used for any of the ESSER II Programs that a school feels they cannot use effectively for the planned purpose. Is there any portion of ESSER II funds that should be returned? What were the school mini grants in the amount of $1 million dollars?
Notice how there is zero allocation for covid19 mitigation or school health support. Perhaps an audit of the ESSER and grant funds is needed to address why more funds were not allocated to the school nurses for the responsibility that has been asked of them on preventing, tracking infections and mitigating covid19 in schools. According to data that has been reported to NCDPI on ESSER allotments and expenditures OCS spent a measly $13,590 on School Health Support Personnel funded with CRF. Orange County Schools is scheduled to report to Federal Programs Monitoring (OFP) Division of the Department of Public Instruction at some point during the 2023-24 school year where they will discuss the implementation of approved activities, evaluation of impact measures, budgets and expenditures made with ESSER funds.
In reviewing OCS application (page 2041) for ESSER III funds they selected “no” in request for funding to go towards facility repairs/improvements to minimize virus transmission, improving air quality, coordination of preparedness and response to covid19, training to minimize virus transmission, or supplies to sanitize and clean. These categories should have been of high priority for a virus that Americans were told was deadly, locked students out of schools, and forced students to wear face masks once school opened back up. Yet, OCS decided theses covid resources would not be necessary. Were they being told otherwise?
Furthermore, what happened with the hiring of the two full time school nurse health technicians, contract staff and temporary staff to address the covid19 monitoring, reporting and data collection that was requested with the $500,000 grant from NCDHHS in the amount of $253,729? Has that money been spent and those employees are no longer working or needed at OCS? The grant was approved for the 2022-23 school year on November 7th 2022, that only left 7 months to use the funds.
Ask yourself what is really going on here? Billions of taxpayer funded COVID-19 relief funds meant to combat a virus and not much has actually been spent to do just that.