Burns: Local colleges awarded nearly $450,000 in COVID safety grants

Federal funds can be used for equipment, technology, other safety applications

EBENSBURG, Aug. 3 – As Pennsylvanians prepare to head back to class for the fall semester, and schools work to create healthy learning environments, state Rep. Frank Burns today announced that almost $450,000 has been awarded to local secondary education organizations to help guard against COVID-19.

“Since the start of this crisis I’ve worked every day to make sure Cambria County gets its fair share of federal COVID-19 relief funding, and this marks another victory for our region,” Burns said. “Our students and educators need to know that their safety is a priority, and this funding will help address those needs. And I’ll keep working for more resources for our region -- and will continue to advocate for commonsense solutions to this ongoing issue.”

The local funding, part of $28 million in federal money allocated to organizations across Pennsylvania, will help postsecondary institutions fund purchases such as personal protective equipment, cleaning products, technology to take classrooms online or perform contact tracing, and help them implement public health and safety plans to resume operations in the fall.

Administered by the state Department of Education, the federal funding was based on both the shares of total enrollments by each postsecondary sector and the number of socio-economically disadvantaged students served by institutions.

Grants awarded in the local region include:      

  • Saint Francis University: $75,282.
  • Mount Aloysius College: $79,514.
  • Commonwealth Technical Institute: $17,603.   
  • Pennsylvania Highlands Community College: $276,522.