Update: PCEF's Emergency Financial Relief Grants opened on January 13th. In the first four days, 20 PCSD staff applied through our confidential process.
Update: In December of 2020, the impacts of COVID-19 are still present. Park City school staff reports that approximately 300 families, or 600 kids, are still in crisis. This includes families of school personnel.
Thanks to a Park City Community Foundation CARES grant and support from donors like you, Park City Education Foundation is poised to distribute an additional $80,000 in basic needs assistance to kids and families who have suffered crushing economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.
If you’re wondering how this fits into PCEF’s mission – which is to fund initiatives that inspire all Park City students to successfully reach their academic and lifelong potential – know that it’s an effort to remove financial burdens so that students, families, and teachers can stay focused on academics.
When the pandemic brought the country to a halt in March, low-income families bore the brunt of the economic shutdown. Here in Park City, where so many of our low-income families are the backbone of the community, hundreds were laid off, furloughed, or had their working hours cut significantly.
Why did PCEF get these CARES grant funds? Our organization is in the unique position to disperse these emergency basic needs funds because of structures and systems PCEF was able to provide seed money for years ago - via the conduits of the Park City School District Outreach Coordinators.
Back when the role was first created (in collaboration with the United Way of Salt Lake, PCCF, and Park City School District), there were just two. Now, there is one Outreach Coordinator per school. Each one provides an immediate and direct link to a network of families and students most impacted by the pandemic. Each one is perfectly placed to disperse these critical funds to those who need them most.
Park City School District’s population is approximately 5,000 students:
20% are Latinx
20% - 23% are economically disadvantaged (nearly 1000 kids)
14% are English language learners
7% are special education
In further support of the PCEF mission, as we work to support our low-income students, which make up about 23% of the Park City School District’s student population, we hope to avoid the worst possible academic outcomes triggered by COVID-19: increased dropout rates, worsened inequalities, and widened opportunity gaps.
The recent $80,000 infusion adds to what PCEF distributed in the spring of 2020. In total, when basic needs assistance funds and express grants are tallied from March 2020 through this winter, Park City Education Foundation is poised to distribute approximately $175,000 to our most vulnerable families, students, and our teachers. These funds are available because of community support, the PCCF, and because of YOUR donations.
We will continue to keep you updated on the impact of your support, as well as the ever-evolving needs of our families, students, and schools as our community and educators battle the most challenging year yet.
Thanks to your donations, we are able to meet these emerging and critical needs. Thank you, thank you, thank you for your continued support.
