Chris Bentzel, the superintendent of Christian County Schools, stated that there is still optimism despite the fact that Kentucky school districts will lose $34 million in ESSER money from the COVID era.
In an interview with WHVO’s Hoptown This Morning on Wednesday, Bentzel stated that they have the option to appeal in order to retain the $8 million in ESSER money.According to Bentzel, the money will go toward building a new Christian County High School on Ft. Campbell Boulevard.
In order to compensate for problems like this one, he noted, the district has been receiving interest on the $80 million bond that was taken out for the project.
This comes as newly appointed Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon informed states on March 28 that districts in all but seven states nationwide would no longer be able to use previously approved extensions to spend COVID relief monies.
According to the Courier-Journal, the original deadline to spend down the money was in January, but more than a dozen Kentucky districts were granted an extension until March 2026.
