Though it’s still less than two months into the most unpredictable school year in modern history, the Guilford Public School district is navigating the financial uncertainties of a hybrid remote and in-person system fairly well, according to a report presented last month to the Board of Finance (BOF), with expenditures roughly matching 2019 so far.

With expenditures at around $4.85 million through September, or 21.25 percent of the budget, the schools are just under last year’s mark of 21.27 of the yearly budget, according to Board of Education (BOE) Vice Chair Amy Sullivan.

Total COVID-related expenses going back to July 1 of this year are just under $800,000, a large chunk of which has come from physical infrastructure in the buildings, including outdoor tents and plastic shields, according to school officials.

The schools saw an almost $100,000 loss from food-related services in September as the town saw “low participation numbers” in the breakfast and lunch programs, according to the Guilford Public Schools Business Manager Linda Trudeau.

The district has since scaled those meal services back, Trudeau told the Courier via email, including laying off some staff. Only “a small amount” of funding from the state is covering additional hours worked by food staff, Trudeau said.

Another program is also funding every meal served to any child under the age of 18 in Guilford, she said.

Additionally, the schools hired 2.2 full-time teacher positions not originally budgeted for in order to decrease class sizes, according to Trudeau, though some of that expense will potentially be eligible for pandemic-related state or federal monies also.

More than $350,000 of the new coronavirus expenses are related to the purchase and installation at the school buildings of large outdoor tents, which will be used as long as students are in school and can function in nearly all weather conditions with heating and retractable walls, according to BOE Chair Katie Balestracci.

“I think it’s a popular trend for many school districts, because it will allow us to extend outdoor activity significantly. And then once it gets cold enough to require the sides to come down, it just provides another really large space,” she said.

The tents had to be inspected by the fire and building departments, according to Balestracci, and were something that many community members requested and supported.

The amount of unemployment that the schools have to cover is also significantly higher, with Trudeau explaining that Guilford is responsible for covering part of the benefits of anyone who left in the last year.

Temporary leave for people who were exposed, or who were taking care of family members affected by the pandemic, also were entitled to unemployment, and part of that is covered by the district, Trudeau said.

Currently about 30 people have their unemployment benefits partially covered by the district, according to Trudeau. An executive order expanded the coverage, but also ensured that half those costs will be reimbursed, she said.

Forty-eight staff members, including 18 teachers, have left Guilford Public Schools since last March, Trudeau said, while emphasizing that not all of those departures were related to the pandemic.

The district has hired 69 staff in the same time frame, she said, and is still looking to fill a handful of positions, including an elementary school Spanish teacher and substitute custodial staff.

Another yet-unknown expense is transportation costs. Trudeau said the district is in discussion with the bus company as to what that bill will look like.

Though a significantly lower number of Guilford students are riding the bus this year, and buses only run four days a week, there are other state-mandated requirements, as well as the addition of bus monitor positions.

Paying substitute teachers has been another unpredictable and difficult-to-anticipate number, Trudeau said. So far, the need for substitutes has been down, and Balesstraci lauded the Guilford teaching staff for showing up to work. The district did not see any large exodus of certified staff.

“It is a credit to our teaching staff,” she said. “There are districts that thought they weren’t going to be able to open because they didn’t have enough teaching staff. That wasn’t an issue for us.”

Other positives include special education costs projected to come in under budget by $150,000, with Trudeau saying she is “keeping [her] fingers crossed” that those numbers hold.

The schools also received $117,000 through a federally funded state grant and are expecting another grant of approximately double that, according to Sullivan.

Guilford is also waiting to hear back about a $470,000 grant from the Coronavirus Relief Fund, which has allocated $163.5 million for K-12 schools around the state for their reopening.