Colfax receives $280,000 to cover drop in students

School District faces a budget gap with student loss

Garth Meyer, The Gazette | Mar 18, 20210

COLFAX — The Colfax School District will receive $280,000 in federal relief funds to address its drop in enrollment and other costs attributed to COVID-19.

Superintendent Jerry Pugh gave a report to the school board Monday night.

The grant is part of the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund, part of the CARES Act passed by Congress last spring. A second round of ESSER funds was approved in December as part of the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act.

The Colfax district faces a budget gap of 26 students, representing the difference between its summer forecast of 542 students and its year-to-date average of 516. School districts in Washington receive about $9,000 in funding per full-time equivalent student per year.

The funding will cover basic education and various gaps related to the pandemic – from transportation to personal protective equipment.

For the students who haven’t come back, he has called parents to get an idea of the prospects for next year.

“It’s not looking great,” he said. “There are concerns with masks and mandates – sex (education).”

He noted the controversy over a state bill to require K-12 comprehensive sexual health education passed last March, which led to a historic petition and Referendum 90, which failed to void the bill in November.

A main charge of its opposition was that the requirements taught (detailed) sex education to young elementary school kids.

“They lumped the basic concepts of ‘stranger danger’ into the title of sex ed,” Pugh said. “There’s nothing in there about that or sexual lifestyle or life choices. It’s about how to be safe. Your body is your own. (It’s about) how to say to no to bullies and strangers.

“I really want to belay the fears that are out there. We’re going to teach what we have been teaching in Colfax, long before I got here. For us in Colfax, I don’t think it will change one iota.”

He noted some students are not expected to return to the district. Instead, the families will stay with home-schooling.

“A lot of people have flat-out said no, we’re not coming back,” Pugh said.