FRAMINGHAM, MA – The City of Framingham has received $475,600.00 for Remote Learning Support Services through the Federal CARES Act Coronavirus Relief Fund and the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund.

The purpose of the Remote Learning Support Grant program is to promote and support equitable access to affordable, safe, and supportive environments for children to engage remotely in instructional time during the school day.

The City worked with organizations to identify potential designated recipients, in accordance with an October 13, 2020 Request for Response , issued by the Commonweath of Massachusetts.

The process involved Governor Charlie Baker’s August 28, 2020 COVID-19 Executive Order No. 49, “Supporting Parents with Children in Remote Learning” which created “three paths for communities to pursue to provide additional care options to meet the needs of families who are engaged in remote learning models.”

Representatives from the Mayor’s Office, Office of Administration & Finance, Department of Public Health, and Framingham Public Schools facilitated the process and the following organizations were selected as designated recipients:

• Boys & Girls Club of MetroWest
• First Circle Learning Center
• Hoops and Homework
• Pelham Lifelong Learning Center
• South Middlesex Opportunity Council/Suburban
• The Teddy Bear Village Child Care Center
• MetroWest YMCA

The process is facilitated through The MA Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) and it’s Licensing Education Analytic Database (LEAD), licensing system.

The Framingham recipients will be monitored by the city according to “Remote Learning Enrichment Program” rules that assured the recipients were  “approved by a Municipal Approving Authority, which will also be required to monitor the program on an ongoing basis.”

According to the Request for Response, “A total of $12.1 million has been allocated for this purpose through the federal CARES Act Coronavirus Relief Fund and the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) Fund. Funding priority has been given to cities and towns with local education agencies (LEAs) that:

• operate elementary schools offering either fully remote or hybrid learning schedules as of September 16, 2020;
• are in the 10th, 11th or 12th low-income band used as part of the calculation to determine Chapter 70 education funding (or are in the 8th income band and are most significantly impacted by COVID-19 according to September Department of Public Health data); and
• are not located in a jurisdiction that received Coronavirus Relief Funds directly from the federal government (City of Boston and Plymouth County).”

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