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The North Syracuse Central School District will lose its federal COVID-19 relief funding this September, two years after receiving $7.8 million through the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriation Act of 2021.

On Dec. 27, 2020, President Donald Trump signed the CRRSA Act into law, which provided an additional $54.3 billion for the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief, or ESSER II, fund. The act authorized funding for a second Education Stabilization Fund for coronavirus response because of the pandemic’s impact on education.

New York state received $4 billion in ESSER II funds to support local educational agencies that were impacted by COVID-19. The CRRSA act also provided $322.8 million in Governor’s Emergency Education Relief funds to provide educational agencies with emergency assistance, $251.2 million of which going to the Emergency Assistance to Non-Public Schools grant program.

NSCSD must spend its federal stimulus aid granted under the CRRSA by September 30, 2023, and its $11.5 million in funding from the American Rescue Plan by September 30, 2024.

In a February budget update, NSCSD announced it will spend the remaining CRRSA funds on academic recovery for Academic Intervention Services’ teachers and teacher assistants, family engagement counselors and social workers, Social Emotional Learning restorative practices, health services, COVID-19 testing and instructional support for teachers on special assignments before September.

“That (loss in funding) is going to be a challenge for us, because with that money, we did add a lot of support for the entire district,” Superintendent Daniel Bowles told CNY Central.

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This loss in funding comes as Syracuse begins its pivot toward preparing for Micron Technology’s arrival in 2024. Officials from both the city and the country have been meeting since Micron in October 2022 announced its plans to spend up to $100 billion building a 1,400-acre semiconductor manufacturing plant.

NSCSD announced in the budget update that it continues to develop a positive relationship with the Micron team. The presentation explains that members from the district recently met with Micron again to orient them to the school district and discuss collaboration opportunities to improve education for students and staff in the district.

Micron’s arrival has also influenced the curriculum of New York’s first STEAM high school, which is expected to begin in June and will feature a semiconductor manufacturing technology concentration.

“When Micron announced they were coming here, we did add that as a concentration because there will be needs for workers in that area,” said Jody Manning, executive director and planning STEAM principal.

The STEAM high school, which will replace the former Central High School on S. Warren St., hopes to attract 60% of its students from Syracuse City School District and 40% from the surrounding areas that includes NCSD.

Through the funds provided in a Micron Foundation grant to the North Syracuse Education Foundation, NSCSD will host a Chip Camp, which is set to take place from June 27-29 for approximately 120-150 students in seventh through ninth grade.

At the camp, students will have the opportunity to participate in hands-on STEM activities that will help them prepare for jobs in semiconductor manufacturing and engineering jobs, according to a NSCSD news release. Students will have the opportunity to work with Micron team members and engineering students from local universities.

NSCSD also will be hosting Micron’s Girls Going Tech, an initiative designed to encourage girls to consider careers in technology and STEM careers, according to the budget update.

“We are excited about the opportunities this will provide for students that would not be possible without the Micron Foundation’s generosity and vision,” President of NSEF Jackie Forte said in the press release.

Published on March 23, 2023 at 12:24 am

Contact Kendall: kaluther@syr.edu