How Much Extra $$$ Will Milford Schools Need Due To Coronavirus?

MILFORD, CT — How much additional money will the coronavirus pandemic cost the Milford Public Schools for the upcoming school year? The answer to that question is very complicated and probably can't be answered right now or possibly even months from now.

So far the Milford Public School District has spent $1.1 million on COVID-19 related expenses since the pandemic began in March and continuing on into August. Those funds were not budgeted for, and how could they have been, as no one expected a pandemic to disrupt the school year.

But because schools were closed on March 16 and remained that way for the remainder of the year Milford schools ended the fiscal year on June 30 with a $1 million surplus. The Board of Education received approval from the city of Milford to put the $1 million savings into an account to help pay for unexpected COVID-19 expenses.

So essentially, the unexpected COVID-19 expenses hasn't cost city taxpayers any additional money.

But that could conceivably change dramatically during this new school year, or maybe not. It's very fluid, school officials told Patch.

As of right now, Milford school officials said they are anticipating that unexpected COVID-19 related expenses will cost a "worst-case scenario" $10 million. And they're expecting to save $932,000 in various accounts too.

But the situation may not be as dire as it sounds. Milford received word last week that they'll receive a $1 million grant from the state of Connecticut to help pay for unexpected COVID-19 expenses. Additionally, Milford public schools will receive $440,000 in federal funds through the federal CARES act to help defray costs too.

Also school officials are seeking reimbursement from the federal government for numerous items too and those costs have not been calculated yet.

Milford Schools Chief Operations Officer James L. Richetelli Jr. said the $10 million "worst-case scenario" figure is an estimate and one that will likely change depending on how many new staff positions they hire and whether the entire school year unfolds as planned.

Milford schools approved a revised schedule that has students in school Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and learning from home on Wednesdays.

Richetelli said if Milford needed to revert to a fully online schedule the extra costs would go down significantly.

Here are some estimates on that $10 million "worst-case" scenario figure:

An additional $4.3 million for additional certified and non-certified staff to cover expanded classroom space, additional student and staff instructional materials, decreased class size, curriculum, and carts for mobile teachers.

An additional $3.5 million for additional custodians in each school and overtime costs, additional monitors for classrooms during lunch, more furniture including student desks, partitions, signage, PPE, glass/plexiglass shields for teacher desks and office spaces, cleaning materials, bottle filler stations to replace all water fountains.

An additional $1.2 million for technology enhancements including mobile interactive Whiteboards with cart, potential live-streaming, Chromebooks for additional staff.

An additional $1.1 million for transportation costs including monitors on all buses, additional bus runs for Platt and St. Mary schools due to the shortened public school day, PPE for drivers, monitors and students, and cleaning and sanitizing materials.