American Rescue Plan Act will send the Erie School District about $77.5 million
District will get to keep about $70 million after carving out $7.5 million to distribute to nonpublic schools
District must spend $15.5 million of total on programs to address learning loss due to pandemic
Big federal dollars keep flowing to the Erie School District to help its schools reopen and its 10,500 students recover from learning gaps due to the pandemic.
The total largesse from Washington now stands at close to $107 million.
The district will get about $70 million from the American Rescue Plan Act, the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package that Congress approved on Wednesday, Erie schools Superintendent Brian Polito said.
The district s middle and high school students could get the same chance sooner rather than later.
The 11,000-student Erie School District, the largest in the region, is considering offering hybrid instruction a combination of in-person learning and online classes to middle and high school students who have fallen behind in their grades while taking online-only instruction throughout the academic year.
Erie schools Superintendent Brian Polito said the district is also exploring whether it can start a hybrid format for all middle and high school students earlier than the fourth quarter, the time when the district, since the start of the school year, had planned for those students to return.
Curtis Waidley grew up in Erie, experiencing nature in nearby Presque Isle State Park and on family camping trips. But it wasn t until he was in college that he set foot in a national park. It s so cliche to say the place took my breath away, Waidley, 24, said about his 2018 visit to Badlands National Park in South Dakota. But that was what it was like. I just stopped and it took my breath away. . I ve had the same sensation with every national park I ve visited.
Waidley, who has now been to more than 20 national parks, features them and one Pennsylvania state park – Presque Isle – in the Save America Print Series of posters he created. He donates 10% of his sales to the National Park Foundation, a nonprofit that generates private donations for the National Park Service.