Evanston Township High School wants to know if you agree with current plans on spending $2.3 million in Federal COVID relief aid, and, if you don’t agree, then what should be done with it?

The school is asking community members (parents, guardians, students, and those who do not have children in the district) to respond to a brief survey on use of the funds.

ETHS is proposing to use $1.7 million for capital improvements to improve air flow and the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system in the high school building, with major focus on the nurses’ office. The rest would go for “employee positions needed as a result of COVID and COVID protocols,” according to a District 202 news release.

There are restrictions in the law, the Elementary and Secondary School Education Emergency Relief Fund, or ESSER, on how the dollars can be spent.

Those limits include “funding to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the coronavirus threat and equitable services to students and teachers,” according to the district.

The money is a one-time federal grant as part of Round III of the ESSER bill.

The survey is available online. The deadline for completing it is April 26.

Jeff Hirsh joined the Evanston Now reporting team in 2020 after a 40-year award-winning career as a broadcast journalist in Cincinnati, Ohio.

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