Board approves planning to use leftover ESSER II funds for bleachers; reviews three facility plans

The Monroe County Board of Education voted to authorize district staff to plan using leftover ESSER II summer-school funds to replace outdoor bleachers at multiple schools and spent the workshop reviewing three facility-priority options for major repairs and additions.

District staff told the board the proposal would reallocate unspent summer-school ESSER II dollars toward a single bleacher project rather than piecemeal repairs. "We would just like to ask for your approval or permission to plan on allocating what we have left over from summer school to finish our bleacher project," said District staff (first referenced as "District staff" in the transcript). The project scope described in the meeting included outdoor bleachers at Palmer Elementary, Sequoia High School (visitor football field, softball and baseball), Sweetwater stadium and fields, Teleco Junior High visitor bleachers and, likely, Topo Junior High.

Why it matters: ESSER II funds come with specific allowable uses and monitoring requirements; the board discussed how to meet a 20% learning-loss minimum while maximizing the districtwide impact of one-time capital purchases. District staff emphasized accountability: "This money will be monitored. You will be held accountable for every penny," the presenter said.

Details and other proposed uses: Staff outlined programmatic uses recommended for ESSER II, including learning acceleration, purchasing education technology, targeted supports for special populations, and a minimum 1% allocation for administrative costs (presented as $110,159.50). On learning recovery, staff said spending roughly $2,000,000 requires careful design; they proposed continuing a summer learning opportunity, allocating about $300,000 for before- and after-school programs and piloting evening credit-recovery labs for high-school students.

Facilities plans: Philip (district staff) presented three high-level facility options to prioritize work if the ESSER carryover and other funding were used. Plan A emphasized large additions and office/renovations (example figures given: $3,500,000 for Madison Middle School and $2,300,000 for Teleco Junior High) focused on classroom additions and enclosing office breezeways. Plan B shifted toward classroom additions and building-wide HVAC and electrical upgrades to deliver broader building improvements at a lower per-site cost, with staff proposing $3,000,000 be spread across immediate countywide needs. Plan C would divide approximately $6,700,000 among prioritized repairs across many schools rather than completing large single-site renovations. Philip repeatedly cautioned the figures were preliminary budgetary estimates.

Other priorities discussed included device replacement (tablets and Chromebooks), a proposed two-year online learning tool (~$200,000 estimate), social-emotional-learning teacher training, and a proposal to purchase a newer bus for special-needs transportation (presented estimate: about $80,000). Philip cited recent HVAC work at Sequoia High School that uncovered a cracked heat exchanger and led the district to replace multiple units at once.

Board process and next steps: Board members asked staff to provide written comparisons of Plans A, B and C for review; staff noted the district budget is due Aug. 1 (staff hoped to submit in July) and urged quicker submission to secure contractor quotes. The board scheduled further review at upcoming meetings and signaled a desire to balance large projects against spreading funds to address the most urgent needs across schools.

The motion to plan the bleacher allocation was made and seconded during the workshop and carried by voice vote; the board did not record a roll-call tally in the transcript. The board asked staff to return with written plans ahead of the regular May meeting to finalize priorities.