School districts receive $33 million in PPE and supplies

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All 81 public school districts across the state now have access to personal protective equipment and supplies from the S.C. Department of Education.

The $33 million allocation of state Coronavirus Relief Funds, announced Tuesday at Irmo’s River Springs Elementary School, was approved by the General Assembly recently after it provided the department additional flexibility to use previously allocated funds to purchase masks, gloves, wipes, hand sanitizer, face shields and other supplies, according to a news release.

The decision, following Gov. Henry McMaster’s August announcement at which he unveiled $10 million worth of PPE and Plexiglas desk shields to 70 school districts during an Anderson press conference, fulfills all district requests.

“With the 2020-21 school year well underway, it is critical that teachers and schools have the supplies needed to ensure face-to-face instruction can continue to be carried out as safely as possible,” S.C. Education Superintendent Molly Spearman said in the release. “This statewide order will not only ensure that face-to-face operations can be maintained for the foreseeable future but will also provide the necessary resources to phase in additional face-to-face learning as health and safety conditions allow.”

Spearman will stop by Spartanburg’s Roebuck Elementary School tomorrow at 10 a.m. to speak on the order.

Purchases include:

• 597,585 adult and student reusable cloth face masks
• 2,681,950 adult and student disposable face masks
• 189,966 KN95 masks
• 87,010 adult and student face shields
• 108,476 boxes of gloves (100 count each)
• 331,913 gowns for nurses
• 606,473 cases of disinfecting wipes (50 count each)
• 41,474 gallons of hand sanitizer
• 99,259 bottles of hand sanitizer — 16-ounce size
• 69,243 bottles of disinfecting solution — 32-ounce size
• 1,746 electrostatic backpack sprayers