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Williamston schools lose HRA grant funding; MDHHS offers separate reimbursement stream
Summary
Williamston Community Schools learned an HRA grant was canceled effective March 24; the district must submit eligible costs by April 10 and says MDHHS has offered a different COVID-related funding stream, amount and application details not yet specified.
Williamston Community Schools announced that an expected Health-Related Assistance (HRA) grant was canceled effective March 24, and the district has until April 10 to submit eligible costs incurred through that date for reimbursement.
The change was disclosed during the superintendent’s report. Superintendent Adam said district finance staff member Sarah Tynum will submit the eligible costs for reimbursement and that the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) has offered an alternative funding stream for COVID-specific activities, but the district has not yet received details about the amount or application process.
Why it matters: the HRA grant had been funding positions the district described as the district nurse’s assistant and mental health specialist roles. Adam said the removal of the HRA funding “doesn’t mean those positions are going away,” but it “does mean the funding stream that we had anticipated using to support them for the rest of this year was cut off unexpectedly as of March 24.”
District leaders said they are evaluating options to continue services. Sarah Tynum was identified in the discussion as the staff member who will handle the reimbursement submission to the canceled grant; no timeline or guarantee of replacement funding was provided at the meeting.
Board members did not take formal action on the item at the meeting; the discussion was presented as part of the superintendent’s report and described the district’s next administrative steps.
The district did not provide the dollar value of the canceled HRA grant at the meeting, nor did staff state eligibility guidance for the MDHHS alternative stream. The board said staff will follow up if more information about the new MDHHS opportunity becomes available.
