Henrico eyes 'transformational' moves with federal pandemic funding for education, infrastructure, other projects

Henrico officials shared a “good news tour” of updates about federal community project funding and transportation project funding submissions with the Henrico Board of Supervisors at a work session on Tuesday afternoon.

Mike Schnurman, assistant to the county manager and Henrico’s legislative liaison, summarized current projects that Henrico legislators and leaders have focused on as the county renewed its look at infrastructure as a mechanism to economic development.

Proposals include a detox and recovery center, an Achievable Dream Academy, the Fall Line Trail and pedestrian improvement projects, Schnurman noted.

Henrico Finance Director Meghan Coates recounted the federal stimulus and emergency funding awarded to Henrico following Schnurman's address of the current legislative and financial statuses of the proposal.

The funding source that received the most attention, Coates said, was the $57 million CARES Act allocation for general governmental operations.

Of that money, $17.5 million was allocated to Henrico County Public Schools, with $2.5 million specifically going toward daycare programs to assist with virtual learning, Coates said.

Other government stimulus included $7.35 million across 18 department-specific grants allocated to emergency housing assistance, mental health programs, elections and the workforce, she said.

More recently, Henrico received another $64.26 million for the future allocation of funds to infrastructure and revenue recovery through the American Recovery Act.

Henrico also received education-specific dollars, including $9.3 million from the first round of funding through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund, which was allocated to technology for distance learning, counselors and clinic attendants; $34.8 million from ESSER II; $78.3 million from ESSER III; and $8.8 million from the CARES Act.

“What you saw with us very early on in this with this first three buckets of funding was really focusing on continuity of service to make sure that we were providing our residents, our students with the services that they need regardless of our current situation in the pandemic,” Coates said.

Coates said Henrico was in a good financial position coming out of the pandemic.

“Henrico is uniquely focused,” she said. “There are lots of localities around the country who are still struggling to make a budget, who are still dealing with revenue losses, who are still facing very, very difficult choices. Because of the way this board positioned the county, that is not where we are.

“We have the ability to really pivot to do something more transformational with these future buckets of funding. And so, what sets us apart is going to be our approach.”

School officials update board on funding, coming plans

John Wack, chief financial officer for Henrico County Public Schools, discussed some of these approaches through the allocation of ESSER II and ESSER III funds.

During its regular meeting Tuesday evening, the Board of Supervisors heard a motion by Wack to introduce an amendment to the annual fiscal plan for the 2021 fiscal year because of ESSER II funding. The county will be able to spend the money through September 2023, Wack said.

Specific uses of these funds will include addressing learning loss among students, mental health services, summer learning and supplemental after-school programs, educational technology and facility repairs, Wack said.

The first quarter of the spending plan would involve personnel, and the initiatives would cost an estimated $8.6 million combined over two years, Wack said.

“We're including two years of funding for 15 elementary reading specialists that can help address the literacy rate deficiencies that have been worsened by the pandemic,” he said. “We're adding 30 school counselors to address mental health issues that have been exacerbated by the pandemic and will also help Henrico schools meet the standards of quality minimum staffing levels that were included in the General Assembly's most recent budget.

“Finally we're adding 13 elementary library assistants to also help with literacy, but also to help schools meet our standards of quality.”

Wack emphasized that a primary focus of the spending plan would be remediating learning loss, because students returning to schools in-person would not have seen a classroom in 18 months.

Henrico Schools Superintendent Amy Cashwell shared observations about in-person versus remote learning when discussing how the school system will change after the pandemic.

“We have students who typically would not have been on track to graduate on time that felt that when they eliminated some of the social aspects of a school experience, they were very focused, as well as students who did not do well with that sort of a learning environment,” she said.

Cashwell said that the school system recognized, partially because of the pandemic, that there was a need for online learning among some students. In the 2021-2022 school year, Henrico County will offer the Henrico Virtual Academy for students who are interested in continuing online learning, she said.

About 1,800 students out of 50,000 total expressed interest in enrolling in the virtual program, she said.

Federal funding from ESSER II will help support some of these operational expenses for both in-person and virtual students and staff, including:

• 52 additional buses costing $5.98 million;
• 10 minivans costing $280,000;
• WiFi hot spots for students and added bandwidth costing $1.04 million;
• air filters and air purifiers costing $400,000.

An additional $9.15 million will be provided for instructional resources and programming, Wack said.

Infrastructural improvements will also be made, Wack and Cashwell noted.

The ESSER II amendment will be considered for public hearing on June 22. Wack said he anticipated coming back to the board in September to seek the appropriation for ESSER III, which could support a continuation of critical resource spending.