Governor's "Summer" Bill Heard in House Education Finance Committee.  The House Education Finance Committee heard HF 1064 this morning.  The lion's share of the bill provides assistance to students who have been adversely affected by the state's transition to hybrid and distance learning through a variety of educational opportunities,  Here is a breakdown of those funding initiatives:

• $5 million for community partnerships for tutoring and mentoring programs.  Eligible programs include school districts, charter schools, intermediate districts, and cooperative units.  Maximum grant amount is $100,000.
• $3.25 million for expanded tutoring.  Same programs eligible as with community partnerships.  Maximum grant amount is $200,000.
• $1 million for mental health supports.  School districts and charter schools eligible.
• $10 million for field trips and hands-on learning experiences.  School districts and charter schools eligible.  Revenue distributed per ADM and concentration of students eligible for free or reduced price lunch.
• $10 million for Adult Basic Education.
• $5 million for neighborhood programs.
• $20 million for Summer pre-school programs.  Grant amount of up to $4,800 per student,
• $6 million for Summer college program for graduating seniors.  Grant amount of up to $512 per course.
• $6 million for School-Linked Mental Health Program.
• $1.025 million to the Office of Higher Education for learning acceleration and college readiness initiatives and to combat learning loss of historically underserved students.
• $25 million to school districts who have lost enrollment due to the pandemic by increasing the percentage in the declining pupil aid program from 25% to 48.5%.

The funding for all these programs comes in FY 21 and the programs run for this summer only.  It is hoped that this bill will be passed early in the session so that education providers can plan to implement the programs outlined in HF 1064 smoothly.

There was a lot of testimony in support of the bill, both written and presented.  The companion to HF 1064--SF 973--will be heard in the Senate Education Finance and Policy Committee tomorrow along with the Governor's budget recommendations and the Department of Education's policy bill.  Full day ahead.