During March of this year the Prince William County Board of Supervisors received $41 million in federal grant aid as a result of The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. This funding was intended to help cover expenses related to the pandemic.

On June 26th Prince William County School Board Chairman At-Large, Dr. Babur Lateef, and Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Steven Walts, sent a letter to the Prince William Board of County Supervisor Chair-At-Large, Ann Wheeler, and County Executive, Christopher Martino.

The letter, written on behalf of entire Prince William County School Board and on behalf of Prince William County Public Schools (PWCS), stated that reopening schools in accordance with the standards set by the Virginia Departments of Education and Health, would exceeds costs of $40 million. Due to the costs of personal protective equipment, cleaning supplies, and accessible devices among other elements.

Woodbridge District School Board Member and Vice Chair Loree Williams, sent an email to the Board prior to the meeting outlining the additional costs of this upcoming school year related to changes caused by the pandemic. It outlined various elements which the School Board deemed necessary and the costs of them.

At the meeting on Tuesday July 21st, a number of residents came in person to speak in favor of reallocating funds to the public school system. Lisa Zargarpur, Coles District School Board Member, highlighted examples of additional costs and stated “We need ways we can address these things in our community immediately.”

Jennifer Rokasky, Prince William Education Association Executive Board Member, begin her comments by stating “PWEA believes in safety for all employees.” She reiterated to the Board regarding in person instruction that “We cannot have this instruction without making sure that we have the people, equipment, and technology necessary to prevent the spread of COVID” and concluded by asking for the Board to “please fund our schools.”

Prince William Education Association President-Elect Maggie Hansford spoke in regards to the “$41 million dollars this board received from the CARES Act for COVID relief funding.” She requested “the board allocate a portion of that funding to our schools.” Mentioning that “the School Board has received $9 million dollars from the CARES Act directly, however, the school division still experienced an overall budget short fall from this school year as a result of COVID-19.”

Previous determinations by the board already allocated all of the $41 million to issues such as food relief, rent assistance, and small-businesses. Although the entirety of funds had been allocated, they had not all yet been spent. Martino recommended “the Board to consider reallocating some of the CARES Act funding that we have received for the purposes of assisting with the reopening challenges they will be facing.” He proposed “the Board reallocate as much as $5 million dollars from the CARES funding that was appropriated to cover county costs through December of this year.”

Supervisor Pete Candland, R-Gainesville, supported the reallocating of funds “as long as their continues to be accountability and transparency on what this money is going towards.” Stating that although “we appreciate the list that we got from the Vice Chair Williams,” that in his opinion “this isn’t a very official list, a very official document considering we’re talking $5 million dollars.”

Chair-At-Large, Ann Wheeler said due to this being CARES Act funding “I do believe the school system will have to have that [transparency] no matter what money we give them.”

Supervisor Kenny Boddye, D-Occoquan, said he believes “we have an opportunity here to really take our partnership with the school division to the next level.”

Supervisor Yesli Vega, R-Coles, made a comment that “this vote seems to be somewhat easy because we already know, based on Dr. Lateef’s previous presentation, what the $5 million dollars are intended for, what the purpose is.” She proposed “a real work session with the School Board so that this Board can better understand and help identify what real needs for the school system are going to be moving forward as we continue to navigate through this pandemic.”

After over three hours in session, Supervisor Boddye “moved to waive the rules of procedure and make the motion that we take up the resolution right now, move that we allocate $5 million dollars of that CARES funding to the school division.” Supervisor Margaret Franklin, D-Woodbridge, seconded the motion. The Board voted unanimously in favor of the resolution.

Upon hearing the resolution, PWEA President-elect Hansford released the following statement:

“I am grateful to the Board of County Supervisors for unanimously voting to ensure Prince William County Schools have the funding we need going into the fall. This was a team effort – parents, teachers, our school board, and the PWEA – all came together to ask for funding. I am encouraged and believe we can all work together to overcome the challenges of COVID-19 going forward.”