Owensboro Catholic Schools slated to receive emergency assistance aid from state

Mar. 1—Non-public schools in Kentucky have been granted emergency assistance due to a $40,817,799 allocation from the U.S. Department of Education.

Keith Osborne, Owensboro Catholic Schools chief administrative officer, said all of the dioceses in Kentucky are working closely with Frankfort to ensure deadlines are not missed for this emergency assistance, and that the school system is slated to receive some of those funds.

According to the Kentucky Department of Education, all non-public schools may apply for the reimbursement of COVID-19-related costs, through Emergency Assistance to Non-Public Schools, which was enacted earlier this year under the Governor's Emergency Education Relief Fund of the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act. More than $4 billion has been made available in emergency education grants, including $2.75 billion set aside specifically for non-public schools.

The U.S. Department of Education announced that the emergency relief aid for non-public schools can be used to help support the safe reopening of schools, continue instruction and address learning loss. It can also be back-dated to March 13, 2020.

Jason E. Glass, Kentucky Commissioner of Education, said KDE is happy to help administer these "much-needed funds."

"We hope this provides assistance to our non-public schools, who also have worked so hard to continue to educate our children during such an unprecedented time," he said.

Gov. Andy Beshear said all schools have been impacted by the coronavirus.

"So many of our schools and educators have stepped up to take care of our children during a really trying year and we want to do all we can to assist these schools so they can continue to educate and look after our students," Beshear said.

Osborne said the Catholic Schools system is following this "very closely," along with all of the Dioceses of Kentucky, who are working with Frankfort to ensure this comes to fruition.

"We are optimistic that we will be eligible to receive funds to help offset the expenses we have incurred in successfully opening to in-person instruction," Osborne said.

Owensboro Catholic has had all students in classrooms five days a week since the beginning of this school year, except for a period at the end of last year when Beshear ordered all schools to switch to remote learning.

To apply for this funding, non-public schools must be non-profit, be accredited, licensed or otherwise operate in accordance with state law, have been in existence before March 13, 2020, not have applied and will not apply for and receive a loan under the Small Business Administration's Paycheck Protection Program, according to KDE.

KDE will provide virtual training and technical support for schools completing their applications in early March. Funds will be issued to schools within 30 days after the application submission window closes.

Bobbie Hayse, bhayse@messenger-inquirer.com, 270-691-7315

Bobbie Hayse, bhayse@messenger-inquirer.com, 270-691-7315