Vermilion school district will get $9.4 million from Federal Government

Vermilion Parish Superintendent Tommy Byler has a plan for spending the $9.4 million that the Vermilion Parish School district will be getting, thanks to a whopping $1.1 billion in new federal assistance.
Louisiana landed $1.1 billion in federal aid — 13th most in the nation — when Congress approved its second stimulus plan on Dec. 27. However, the state is not sending out those dollars for now.
Districts will be able to spend 50 percent of their allocation starting in June and the other half starting in January 2022.
All of the school districts are getting millions of dollars from the federal government to help offset expenses caused by the COVID-19 virus. The larger school districts, such as Jefferson Parish School District, is getting $77 million, while East Baton Rouge School District is getting $34 million. The Lafayette School District is getting $37 million.
Byler said each school district has to create a plan and give it to the state on how the district plans to spend the millions of dollars.
“I want our district to be 1-to-1,” said Byler. “If we have 9,500 students, I want each child to have a Chromebook when they start school.”
Vermilion Parish learned it was not equipped to go all virtual when the deadly virus first hit. The parish had to do like most school districts in the state and order new Chromebooks.
Byler said next month, the school district has to come up with a budget and proposal on how it will spend half - $4.6 million. The state will then approve or disapprove the plan before the parish school district is given any money in June.
After purchasing close to 10,000 Chromebooks, Byler would love to set up a system where the Vermilion Parish School District would buy around 1,500 new Chromebooks each year.
While buying new Chromebooks is high on the list, the school district will also create needs and ways to spend the money. Byler said he plans to sit with his staff and develop a list of the school district’s needs.