On December 27, 2020, the president signed into law the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSA Act), which provides approximately $82 billion in emergency support to elementary, secondary and postsecondary education. Unlike the CARES Act of 2020, the CRRSA Act includes $2.75 billion specifically for emergency assistance to non-public schools.
On March 4, 2021, the Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE) announced that the State’s non-public schools can begin applying for funding through the federal Emergency Assistance for Non-Public Schools (EANS) program, which is part of the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER II) Fund. These funds are intended to assist non-public schools in obtaining services or reimbursement for costs incurred for educational disruption resulting from COVID-19. Under this application, a non-public school may apply for reimbursement for allowable expenses incurred after March 13, 2020. Examples of the types of services or assistance include the following:
- Supplies to sanitize, disinfect, and clean school facilities
- Personal protective equipment (PPE)
- Training and professional development for staff on sanitation, PPE, and minimizing the spread of COVID-19
- Temporary physical barriers to facilitate social distancing
- Educational technology to assist students and teachers with remote or hybrid learning
- Reimbursement of most allowable expenses incurred after March 13, 2020.
The State has contracted with the State Education Resource Center (SERC) to distribute and collect applications and to coordinate the services and assistance under the EANS program. To receive services or assistance under the EANS program, an eligible non-public school must submit an application to SERC. The application is available here. Additional details and answers to frequently asked questions regarding the Emergency EANS program can be found here.
Notably, non-public schools that applied for and received a loan under the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) after December 27, 2020 are not eligible for EANS funds. However, a non-public school that has applied for a PPP loan on or after December 27, 2020, but does not receive funds under the PPP, may apply for services or assistance under the EANS program, as long as the non-public school meets the other requirements and deadlines set forth in the application. A school receiving EANS funds may not apply for and receive a loan under the PPP.
Those eligible non-public schools interested in obtaining services and assistance under the EANS program should promptly complete an application, but no later than 5:00 p.m. on Monday, April 5, 2021. Applications can be emailed to eans@ctserc.org.
Please continue to monitor ctschoollaw.com for updates. If you have specific questions regarding the EANS program, please contact Julie C. Fay at jfay@goodwin.com or Tyler J. Bischoff at tbischoff@goodwin.com or any member of our School Law Group.