Lunenburg supervisors approve school funding boost, authorize emergency communications spending and accept multiple grants

At a meeting Oct. 14, 2021, the Lunenburg County Board of Supervisors approved additions to the FY2022 school budget, authorized staff to continue negotiations on emergency communications contracts with spending caps, accepted several grants and adopted a resolution to participate in the national opioid settlement.

Assistant School Superintendent and Finance Director James Abernathy told the board federal revenue for schools rose to $2,152,598 and other funds to $211,130, bringing the school budget to $20,999,457. Abernathy asked the board to appropriate a CARES set-aside of $86,623, ESSER II funds of $299,269 and ESSER III funds of $200,000 — a total of $585,892 — which the board approved, increasing the FY2022 School Board budget to $21,585,349. Abernathy also reported enrollment was about 100 students below projection and that homeschooling had doubled; he said the district was reviewing potential budget reductions if enrollment does not rebound.

County Attorney Frank Rennie and consulting firm CTA briefed the board on emergency communications options. Rennie said an ARPA legal opinion supports using ARPA funds for radio communications upgrades under Interim Final Rule Section 35.6. Cheryl Giggetts of CTA said four firms submitted proposals for the county's microwave…