District summer camp faces funding uncertainty; grant application could cover up to $500,000 over three years

An RSU 40/MSAD 40 administrator told the school board that a pending grant decision from the Public School Opioid Trust will determine whether the district can run a scaled summer camp program; the grant — if awarded — could provide up to $500,000 to fund three years of the program.

Tom, an administrator, said the nonrecap camp had been paid largely with ESSER and other grant funds in prior years that are now exhausted. He described applying to the Public School Opioid Trust in December and said the funder initially planned to announce awards on April 15 but delayed the decision to May 26.

Tom said the grant application pitched camp activities toward mitigating effects of the opioid crisis and that the award amount could be "up to half a million dollars" to cover three years. "I decided to scale it back to 3 days a week," he said, noting last year the program ran four days a week. He added that the grant would include compensation for teachers, ed techs and other staff who run the program.

Discussion and contingency planning: Tom said the district has surveyed staff for willingness to staff camp on short notice, the venue has indicated it would host, and the district already owns much of the needed equipment (kayaks, canoes, life jackets); consumable supplies remain the primary outstanding cost. He said that if the grant is not awarded, "we don't get that grant unless the board wants to come back and find a half million dollars for 3," indicating the board would need to identify local funds to continue the program at the planned scale.

Action: no formal motion to commit district funds was made at the meeting. Administrators asked the board to await the May 26 grant decision and signaled they can act quickly if funding is approved.

Ending: Tom asked board members to "cross your fingers" and said staff would proceed rapidly if the grant is awarded.