MIDDLETOWN, Ohio — Forty-three Middletown City School District employees, hired years ago with federal pandemic relief funds, have been notified that their contracts will not be renewed for the 2024-2025 school year, the Journal-News has learned.
The nationwide Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding program kicked in a few months after the onset of COVID-19 in March 2020.
Throughout the pandemic, Middletown City School District received $42.5 million in ESSER funding to be used to address learning loss, officials said. The MCSD used these funds to add teaching and support personnel and programs.
However, that federal pandemic relief funding is ending at the end of this school year.
Through “fiscal responsibility,” the district has been able to maintain approximately 60% of the positions added with ESSER funding during the pandemic, said Dan Wohler, district spokesman.
The Due to a Reduction in Force (RIF) letters were dated Jan. 12 and signed by Kee Edwards, senior director of human resources for the Middletown district.
In the letter to the employees, Edwards wrote that “a significant development” was affecting their employment status. He wrote that the “unfortunate situation” arose as the ESSER funds that supported the district’s staffing needs after COVID-19 were no longer available.
The non-renewal becomes effective Aug. 2 and the employees’ final pay will be Aug. 20, according to the letter. Medical, dental and vision coverage will be terminated on Aug. 31.
The employees also were provided information on how to file for Ohio Unemployment Benefits.
“We understand that this news may be unsettling, and we are here to support you during this transition,” Edwards wrote.
Since the start of the 2021-22 school year, Middletown has used ESSER funds to add teaching and support personnel and programs including: six elementary counselors; eight additional literacy tutors; five more English as a Second Language (ESL) tutors; seven kindergarten classroom assistants; three literacy instructional assistants and COVID-19 masks and other personal protection equipment.
The district also purchased more than 2,000 student laptops and home wireless access systems, allowing them to learn digitally at school and at home.
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