College of Lake County gets $20.5 million more in federal COVID-19 relief funds

The College of Lake County will receive another large federal COVID-19 relief fund grant, this time for around $20.5 million - nearly double the school's previous allotment.

The college's board of trustees eagerly approved a measure to accept the funds at its meeting last week. Not only did they do it without discussion, but board Chair Amanda Howland had barely finished asking for a motion before one member said "so moved" and another said "seconded."

"Boy, that was fast," Howland quipped as the crowd laughed. "I guess $20 million speaks loudly, huh?"

The new grant comes from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, signed into law March 11. It allocated $39.6 billion to support institutions of higher education and college students.

Like previous pandemic-related federal grants - including the $11.5 million CLC received in January - at least half the new money must go to students. Unlike earlier grants, more students are eligible to receive federal funds this time.

To qualify previously, students had to also be eligible for federal Pell grants, which are reserved mostly for those with exceptional financial need, Derrick Harden, CLC's vice president of strategy, planning and support, said Wednesday. But now most every student is eligible, including refugees and undocumented immigrants, Harden said.

Surveys of CLC students who previously received pandemic aid showed their greatest need for money was for child care and the costs associated with attending school virtually from home, including laptops and internet access, he said.

The school has yet to receive the new funds and officials remain in the early stages of planning how to distribute it. Harden said officials have one year from the day they receive the money to spend it, and there is an optional one-year extension.

In January, CLC Controller Connie Kravitz said the school's finances have been hurt in many ways by the pandemic. She said enrollment was down significantly, so tuition and fee income was down, as well as money spent at the CLC book store, child care center, cafe and vending machines.

There are also added costs of teaching during a pandemic. Kravitz said the school bought additional instructional tools and supplies to reduce the number of students sharing equipment and to provide time for disinfecting between uses.

Also, CLC needed to purchase personal protective equipment, hand sanitizer and disinfectant cleaning supplies.