KANSAS CITY, Mo. — School districts big and small are staring down some tough numbers right now as COVID-19 preparations touch every aspect of learning.
"I think one of the biggest budget increases we're going to see is either having to hire more staff or with substitute costs," said Dr. Michael Weishaar, assistant superintendent of the Center School District.
Center administrators said they expect to spend $200,000 to $300,000 on extra staffers, which is about one percent of its budget. They could spend that much more on transportation.
"Discussions that have taken place is limiting the number of kids on a bus," Weishaar said. "Our bus routes are built to be efficient. When you have 50 to 60 kids on a bus, we're getting the biggest bang for our buck, and if we want to add buses and routes, that's going to be a significant cost as well."
Weishaar said the district will be able to handle buying extra hand sanitizer, shield guards, thermometers, and other PPE but could not quote a cost estimate at the time.
Not knowing how long the pandemic will last makes it difficult to know how many extra people to hire.
"We can't just hire somebody for one, two, three months," Weishaar said.
The School Superintendents Association estimates the average school district will spend $1.8 million in COVID-19 costs alone to reopen.
Kansas City Public Schools will far surpass that number.
The district will spend more than $2 million on cleaning, PPE, social distancing, and facilities' cleanliness for the 2020-2021 school year alone with the following allotments:
- $350,000 in PPE
- $340,000 for digital temperature scanning tablets in every school. This is different than no-touch thermometers
- Upgrading air filters for better air cleanliness, changing filters more frequently, and letting in more outside air, which increases utilities
- $210,000+ for water quality testing and refillable water bottles for every student
- $500,000 for Plexiglas dividers between learning stations
Early on in the pandemic, the district had already spent $450,000 in PPE and sanitizing.
KCPS will spend $3 million on new curriculum for grades 7 through 12 in math and English, and K through 6 in reading to support at-home and in-school learning.
It will cost the district $1,000 per student, per semester to support virtual learning.
Before the pandemic, not every student had a take-home learning device. Now, that's not an option. KCPS expects to spend $3.7 million to get to full 1-to-1 capacity.
In the spring, the district paid $360,000 for internet hot spots so that kids who don't have an internet connection at home could still do their work.
"We want to be prepared post-return should this happen again," said Linda Quinley, chief financial officer for the district. "How do we make sure kids walk out the door with a device that they can use to continue learning instead of having interrupted learning like we had in the spring."
When kids are spread out, one teacher can't handle it all alone.
"If 25 of them elect to be in class, how do we make sure we can spread those children out? It might mean I need a paraprofessional or extra staff to help me and break kids into different rooms."
Quinley anticipates spending at least $1 million on extra teaching staff, such as paraprofessionals.
Kids will also have to be distanced while eating. Buying warming carts to bring food to students could cost $3 million.
With sales tax and state revenues down, districts are depending on reserve funds, grants, and CARES Act money.
Quinley said KCPS will lose $6 million worth of state revenues over June and July. From March to July, the district will take a loss of $1 million in sales tax revenues.
Weishaar said casinos being shut down in some effect since March hit their budget, but Center has more than 20 percent in reserves they can lean on.
Center received a $20,000 FEMA grant and $400,000 in CARES Act funding.
KCPS, being a bigger district, received $5 million in CARES Act funding. About half of that will go toward the new curriculum, and the rest will go to the new technology devices.
A donor gave $700,000 to KCPS. The district is also applying for FEMA and other grants.
Center created a COVID-19 task force with parents, teachers, and staff to figure out what the school district will look like. The task force will meet a few more times before school starts in early August.
"One of those plans could be an AB model, where our students join us every other day just so that we can separate our students and we don't have as many students in the building at the same time," Christina Medina said, communications director for Center.
The Shawnee Mission School Board recently voted to approve spending $68,000 in hand sanitizer alone.
Other districts 41 Action News reached out to said they're still finalizing plans and details will be available in August.
