At their meeting this week, the Pella School Board received an update about COVID-19 funding and vaccination plans for the district.

Superintendent Greg Ebeling says the district is expecting $405,463 in federal dollars from the Coronavirus relief bill passed in December, which can be used for a variety of needs, mainly tied to response and mitigation efforts needed for the virus. The amount was based on federal regulations considering the number of students in free and reduced lunch programs and other standards.

Ebeling says the district expects to get more firm guidance on vaccines in the near future as well. There have been 268 staff members so far who have signed up to receive COVID-19 vaccines, and he expects close to 75 percent to do so district-wide through the school’s option. He says the administration is working to find the right time for the second shot to avoid too many staff members having brief symptoms as a side effect — which would be enough to close school for a day if too many individuals are temporarily sick. The Pella School District is waiting for Marion County Public Health to make doses available, and have to prioritize individuals based on age and health risk as the roll out will likely be gradual among all districts in the county.

Hear more about the latest with the Pella Community School District on today’s Let’s Talk Pella.