Wednesday, April 15, 2020

BCPL Releasing an Additional $5.25 million in CSF Funds

Additions and Extensions to the Common School Fund (CSF) 
as a Result of COVID-19


WEMTA has been communicating with the State Treasurer, the Board of Commissioners of
Public Lands (BCPL) and the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) about guidance and
temporary changes to the Common School Fund (CSF) that ensure school libraries
have additional resources to respond to COVID-19. 


We have worked directly with DPI to develop the following resource for school libraries to use
during this unprecedented time. DPI has also created a page on their website that provides
information related to COVID-19 that is specific to school libraries:
https://dpi.wi.gov/school-libraries/coronavirus


Common School Fund Supplemental Distribution: BCPL Commissioners voted unanimously
on April 7 to approve a $5.25 million supplemental distribution from the CSF in order to help
school libraries purchase necessary resources to support virtual instruction.This one-time
disbursement is funded by the smoothing account that was created by the BCPL and will not
have a negative impact on the CSF. The supplemental distribution of $5.25 million is being made
in addition to this year’s record $38.2 million distribution, bringing the total CSF distribution for
2019-20 to $43.45 million. BCPL has sent the funds to DPI and they plan to
distribute dollars to school districts on April 27, 2020.


Carryover of Unused 2019-20 CSF Dollars: DPI has advised that if districts are unable to
spend their 2019-20 Common School Fund allocation in full, the unspent portion should be
coded as restricted fund balance (10 B 936130) and spent in 2020-21. These changes should
be noted in the district's long-range library plan.


Using CSF Funds to Purchase eBooks, high-quality online resources to support inquiry
and research, and devices to increase access to digital learning: DPI wants to ensure that
school libraries are aware that CSF dollars can be used to purchase the following items that
may help support online learning: 


  • Joining the Wisconsin Schools Digital Library Consortium and/or addition to their collection of eBooks and audiobooks 
  • Internet access devices (data cannot be purchased using the CSF) 
  • eBooks and audiobooks
  • Digital content to support literacy, research, and inquiry through library programming 


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