MONTAGUE — The Selectboard approved spending $431,707 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money during Monday’s meeting, including $75,000 that will fund the after-school program at Sheffield Elementary School.

The ARPA package contained other funding allocations for the Montague Clean Water Facility sewer pump project and the Carnegie Public Library basement rehabilitation project. As the town had $496,421 left in ARPA funding before these allocations, another $64,714 remains.

The $75,000 will cover the remaining balance of the total $100,000 that Sheffield Elementary School needs to run the after-school program. The other $25,000 is expected to come from a School Choice Revolving Fund. The idea to use ARPA funding for the after-school program previously received support from the Finance Committee and the Capital Improvements Committee.

Selectboard members and Town Administrator Walter Ramsey expressed their desire to find a solution quickly, which is possible with ARPA funds. Reallocation from free cash or using revenue generated by the marijuana impact fee would require approval at a fall Town Meeting, which was less preferable to town officials due to the urgent need for the after-school program. Finance Committee member John Hanold, speaking during a meeting last week, said he recognizes “the clear and present need” for the funding, but noted he expects the school to budget in a way that sets extra money aside in case a similar situation were to arise.

Gill-Montague Regional School District Superintendent Brian Beck attended Monday’s meeting to refresh the Selectboard as to the reason for the $75,000 request.

Beck explained that the Northampton-based Collaborative for Educational Services, which manages the after-school program, did not apply for the 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant that is available through the state Department for Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) because a program evaluation at Sheffield Elementary that was done by DESE in May did not meet the scoring threshold required for the grant to be awarded to the school this year. DESE’s 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant has been routinely offered to the district at roughly $100,000, which is the annual cost to cover the program.

However, Beck said Sheffield Elementary only scored 68.5 of the 70 points needed to be granted funding, and the Collaborative for Educational Services did not notify Beck of this scoring process ahead of time. The grant is competitive, with criteria for funding relating to community need. A rubric from DESE concerning how these demographic factors are scored was not shared with Beck prior to DESE’s evaluation in May, and is not available on the DESE or Collaborative for Educational Services websites.

Beck was notified about the lack of funding for the after-school program on Aug. 6 by Sheffield Elementary Principal Kerry Heathwaite. Confirmation from the Collaborative for Educational Services reached Beck directly on Aug. 11 that “literally made it impossible for us to do anything in the budget process or any other type of process to come up with the money that we might need to fund and implement an after-school program,” he said.

A letter from Beck that was submitted to the Finance Committee states that in previous years, around 60 students would use the after-school service. Several activities and clubs were offered for students during those hours.

Beck added that the school plans to continue to work with the Collaborative for Educational Services to apply for grant funding for the after-school program next school year. He said he’s contacted both state Sen. Jo Comerford and state Rep. Natalie Blais, along with other superintendents regionally, about the issue as other schools in rural parts of the state have also lost funding. Both Comerford and Blais have been advocates for rural schools, Beck noted.

Beck did not provide an exact timeline for when the after-school program will begin at Sheffield Elementary.

Erin-Leigh Hoffman can be reached at ehoffman@recorder.com or 413-930-4231.