Ephrata schools accept grants, donations

EPHRATA – The Ephrata School Board met Monday and tackled a variety of issues and heard updates from various campuses and district staff.  

Financial items of note included the investment of about $2.9 million in addition to funding received from the state to ensure staffing needs are met in the district. A statement from the district said the funding is necessary to provide competitive salaries to educators and other essential student support staff.  

The board approved the acceptance of two grants totaling $50,000. The first is a $30,000 Perkins Reserve Grant to support career and technical student organizations. Funding from that grant will help programs like the Future Business Leaders of America, Future Health Science Professionals, Family Career and Community Leaders of America, Future Farmers of America, the Technology Student Association and SkillsUSA to extend their learning programs outside of traditional classrooms. That includes travel expenses for students competing at state and national conferences this year.  

The second grant comes in at $20,000 from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction to put toward career and technical education programs. The district intends to use the money to upgrade the Ephrata High School Business Lab. Funding will also go to support Computer Science courses. Starting next year, students will also be able to enroll in Engineering and AI essentials for high-growth careers in IT and tech.  

Other funding accepted included a $954 donation from BSN Sports in the form of dumbbells for the EHS weight room, about $5,300 from Weinstein Beverage for a new scoreboard for the EHS junior varsity baseball field, and $2,400 to help purchase new backstop padding for the EGS baseball and softball fields from the Tiger Boosters.  

The total project cost for the backstop maintenance is about $5,145 and will be covered by the EHS Extracurricular budget.