District awards state funds for protective measures at schools

The district of Waldeck-Frankenberg has received more than 480,000 euros in allocations from the state of Hesse for protective measures at its schools. District Administrator Dr. Reinhard Kubat and First District Councillor Karl-Friedrich Frese were pleased about these additional funds, which make it possible to implement structural measures at schools in an unbureaucratic manner and to procure movable economic and consumer goods that serve to protect against Corona.

"The state grant enables us to provide our schools with amounts between 6,000 and 15,000 euros, depending on their size, in a targeted manner," the district administrator was pleased to say. "There is a so-called 'positive list' of the state, which lists the services and goods that may be procured. However, this list is so extensive that it is basically not restrictive.

The district itself has already initiated a central procurement of mouth-nose protection masks for the schools. These will be delivered to the schools in the short term and will not burden the state budget that has now been made available. Within the framework of the state grant, the schools now also have the option of purchasing mobile air purification devices where this is desired. The procurement is the responsibility of the schools, as the District Administrator and the First District Councillor once again expressly clarified. "If the use of stationary air purification devices is being considered, we have asked the schools to check whether such a measure is also structurally feasible," explained First District Councillor and Head of the Building Department Karl Frese. "In any case, our building management department must be involved in order to clarify professional and technical questions.

Overall, the district administrator and the first district councillor consider it very positive that the schools can decide at their own discretion how they want to use the financial resources provided. Of course, each school knows exactly what is urgently needed or preferred by the school community and can provide accordingly. The schools are asked to submit their applications very promptly. This gives the district a quick overview of whether all the funds are being used or whether partial sums are left over which could then be made available to other schools.

On the positive side, however, he said that contrary to the usual practice, the allocation of funds also applies retroactively. All measures, goods and projects on the state's positive list can still be settled for the entire fourth quarter of 2020. The district administrator and first district councillor hope that the schools will make active use of the funds. "We have placed a lot of responsibility on the schools' own discretion, we are aware of that, but we will stand by in an advisory capacity in all cases where this is desired."