photo by: Journal-World

Lawrence Public Schools district offices pictured in April 2021.

The Lawrence school district has received another $13.5 million of federal coronavirus pandemic relief funding.

The Lawrence school board on Monday will consider a spending plan for those funds, which must also be approved by the Kansas State Board of Education. The funding comes from the third round of the state’s allotment of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief, also known as ESSER.

With the additional $13.5 million, the district’s total amount of federal pandemic relief is up to about $21 million, Kathy Johnson, the district’s executive director of finance, said in an email. The district previously received $1.4 million in 2020 and about $6 million over the summer.

Similar to previous pandemic relief funding, the $13.5 million can be spent only on specific pandemic-related issues. According to a memo provided to the board members, the district plans to spend about $6 million of the funding this school year, $7 million next school year and about $480,000 during the 2023-24 school year. All of the funds are required to be spent by Sept. 30, 2024.

The largest chunk of the funding is set aside for the district’s teacher retention bonus program, with about $4.5 million coming from this round of funding.

The school board in September approved a plan that offered teachers and other school employees $1,500 in bonuses over the next school year, then again in the 2022-2023 school year, if they remain employed by the district. About 1,700 employees could be eligible for the bonus, which could cost the district about $5.3 million of its total pandemic relief funding.

However, those bonuses have not yet been disbursed. Superintendent Anthony Lewis said at a previous school board meeting that the timeline for the first round of bonuses was recently changed because the district was still waiting for approval from the state, which needs to sign off on the district’s relief funding plan.

Other proposed spending includes about $4.1 million on improving air quality in district buildings, $1.3 million to pay for academic intervention and about $500,000 to house a full-time certified substitute teacher in each school building for the current school year, among other things.

The school board will meet at 6 p.m. Monday in the boardroom at the district offices, 110 McDonald Drive. The meeting is open to the public, but the district may limit attendance because of the pandemic.

Those who attend will be required to wear masks. The district also encourages the public to watch the meeting on Midco channel 26 or online at youtube.com/USD497.

Those who want to speak during public comment, either in person or online, must send an email to PublicComment@usd497.org before the meeting begins at 6 p.m. Additionally, anyone who wants to share comments with board members via email may send them to schoolboard@usd497.org.