No-touch thermometers, 10 pairs of gloves per day for custodial staff, disinfectant wipes for classrooms -- these are the coronavirus-fighting tools that school administrators are stocking up on as they iron out their reopening plans.
The Association of School Business Officials International, a Virginia-based group, has estimated the expenses school districts may incur as they prepare to reopen during the 2020-2021 school year, while the coronavirus outbreak continues.
The group used a hypothetical school district with 3,659 students, 8 school buildings, 183 classrooms, 329 staff members and 40 school buses transporting at 25% capacity. It found that the total additional costs the district may incur to be nearly $1.8 million.
The highest priced items on the list were for the hiring of extra staff -- $448,000 for additional custodial staff to clean and disinfect the schools and buses; $400,000 to put at least one full or part-time nurse in each school; and $384,000 to hire one aide per bus to take student’s temperatures before they board.
Resuming before and after care with social distancing and new cleaning protocols was also costly, at $168,750.
Another six-figure expense would be disposable masks for the students who forget to bring theirs from home, which would cost $148,190, the ASBO found.
NJ Advance Media reached out to New Jersey school leaders to see how their expenses compare to these.
In Barnegat Township, in Ocean County, which has about 3,000 students spread across six schools, Superintendent Brian Latwis said the district has spent about $20,000 so far.
“This obviously increases every day as we respond to the COVID crisis,” he said.
Delran Township Superintendent Brian Brotschul, who has roughly 3,000 students in four schools, said his costs are closer to $150,000.
“We have purchased out of this year’s budget $50,000 in temperature check equipment and PPE and anticipate an additional $50,000 prior to the start of school,” he said, adding that he also expects to spend an extra $50,000 for custodial personnel.
The expenses are being paid for with funds from Delran’s budgeted building and custodial maintenance accounts.
“The preparation for the coming school year has afforded us the opportunity to meet the challenge of providing in-person programming as set forth in The Road Back head on,” Brotschul said. “However, it places an untenable burden on our general operating budget.”
A bill that was making its way through the state legislature would help ease the financial burden for school districts for these new necessities. It would allow schools to use capital reserve account funds for certain expenses during a state of emergency.
Brotschul said the bill would “allow districts appropriate flexibility to ensure a safe, secure, well-kept facility.”
School districts can also use money from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. New Jersey schools were awarded $310 million in CARES Act aid in May.
Clifton, which has nearly 11,000 students in 18 schools, received $2.5 million in CARES Act money. The district has spent approximately $1.3 million and is still ordering equipment, a spokesperson said.
The chart below details how Clifton, which is more than three times the size of the school district used in the national example, spent the money, compared to the national average example:
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Allison Pries may be reached at apries@njadvancemedia.com.
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Hand sanitizer, PPE, extra staff. Here’s how much reopening schools will cost. - NJ.com
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