Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the District Finance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Merced City School District outlines $71 million in ESSER pandemic spending and remaining project encumbrance
Summary
Chief Business Officer Linda Parker told the board the district received roughly $71 million in ESSER funds across SR1, SR2 and SR3 and has expended or obligated most pandemic-relief funds; a remaining encumbrance for the central OSSC project remains under an approved CDE extension.
Linda Parker, the district’s chief business officer, presented the quarterly investment report and a review of pandemic-relief spending, telling trustees that Merced City School District has received just over $94 million in pandemic-relief funds overall and that Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds were a major component.
Parker broke ESSER allocations into three sources the board discussed: SR1 (approximately $5.1 million), SR2 (about $20.3 million) and SR3 (about $45.5 million). She said SR3 required an approved plan and that 20% of SR3 was dedicated to addressing learning loss; SR3 funding supported capital improvements including HVAC and roofing upgrades at multiple elementary sites and contributed to the Operational Support Services Center (OSSC) project.
On capital projects, Parker said the district was approved for up to $21 million from SR3 toward a roughly $28 million OSSC project and about $7.4 million for roofing upgrades. She reported most pandemic-relief funds have been expended or obligated within applicable timelines and that a small remaining encumbrance for the OSSC remains as the project nears completion; the district is operating under a CDE-approved extension for that work.
Trustees asked follow-up questions about device lifecycles and connectivity assets such as hotspots; Parker said devices purchased during remote learning remain in district inventory and that some hotspot lines are no longer active but the district maintains a process to assess household connectivity needs. Trustees also asked about indirect costs; Parker said the district’s approved indirect cost rate typically ranges from about 4% to 5%, and those funds flow back into the unrestricted general fund to offset administrative costs.
No vote was required for the information item. Trustees thanked Parker for the transparency and asked for additional detail in future materials, including clearer visuals and a public dashboard to track outcomes tied to one-time funding.
