Earlier this month the state of South Dakota received $1.25 billion from the federal government to aid in COVID-19 related relief, called the Coronavirus Relief Fund. This funding is set to go towards health care, small businesses, education, and local governments. Governor Kristi Noem asked counties and cities to track any COVID-19 related expenses incurred during the pandemic. Noem said she will soon announce how much of the $1.25 billion will go to cities and counties.
On Tuesday, May 26, Noem announced that $68 million in CARES Act funding would go towards funding education in the state. (This is separate from the $1.25 the state received for the Coronavirus Relief Fund). The $68 million was divided up into three “buckets”. $19 million of these funds went to ten colleges and universities in the state as higher education emergency relief funds. Half of the $19 million went to students to cover the costs of healthcare, technology, and housing. The universities received the remining funds to cover additional costs incurred by the universities. $41 million of the CARES Act funds went to elementary and secondary schools to cover cleaning expenses and proving technology to students for remote learning. The third “bucket” receiving CARES Act funding was the governor’s emergency education relief funds, which entails quality remote learning and student and staff support, this fund received $8 million.
Additional information on the CARES ACT can be found here.
