Local school districts are set to see between $1 million and $6 million in the latest round of COVID-19 stimulus funding.

The money comes as part of the $1.9 trillion federal relief package signed last week by President Joe Biden, but there are certain strings attached. At least 20% of the money must go toward addressing learning loss as a result of the pandemic, and Northern Lehigh School District is looking to do just that.

“This could be through in-person and remote summer academic programs at no cost to families with transportation provided for students who do come into the buildings,” Northern Lehigh Superintendent Matthew Link said Thursday.

According to figures provided by the Pennsylvania House Democratic Appropriations Committee, local district allocations include:

• Lehighton: $5,053,213

• Jim Thorpe: $3,555,421

• Palmerton: $2,399,074

• Weatherly: $1,090,048

• Panther Valley: $4,913,806

• Tamaqua: $3,849,321

• Pleasant Valley: $6,061,564

• Northern Lehigh: $2,963,066

Pennsylvania as a whole will get just under $5 billion of the $122 billion in the package for K-12 schools around the country.

Federal Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said states and school districts should utilize the stimulus funds with the “same sense of urgency the president and Congress used to pass the American Rescue Plan Act and with the same commitment that families and educators have to getting students back in classrooms for in-person instruction safely.”

Local school district business managers participated in a Pennsylvania Association of Business Officials webinar Thursday afternoon to learn more about the stimulus funding.

“This is a historic investment of funds from the federal government into local school districts,” Lehighton Area School District Business Administrator Edward Rarick said following the webinar. “As of now we are at the beginning stages of what needs to be a thoughtful, well-planned process on how to utilize the funds to ensure our students reap the benefits from this unprecedented influx of one-time money.”

Rarick said ways Lehighton could use the money to help with learning loss could include summer school, after school, extended learning, as well a high focus on special needs students, and an investment in technology.

“The district needs to consider the ‘whole’ child when evaluating how to spend these dollars, not just educational expenses, but social and emotional learning and development that may have been impacted by a traumatic year,” Rarick said. “We also need to be careful to continue to balance our expenditures with revenues to prevent undue hardship on the taxpayer when the one-time stimulus funding evaporates.”

Link said Northern Lehigh will also look at the need for additional technology and software, and any professional development associated with that.

“We are also considering several capital projects that could assist in ongoing air quality improvements and social distancing efforts,” he said. “Knowing that we have until the end of September 2023, we are trying to be as purposeful as possible with the funding.”