CARES Act Resources for K-12 Private Schools

In the week since Congress passed the CARES Act,  informational materials and resources have been made available to help schools, families, and small business navigate the complicated process. We have compiled some resources in case they can be helpful to your families, staff, or schools during this challenging time.

Support for Schools

Equitable services for private schools

The CARES Act allows private schools to receive fully or partially subsidized “equitable services” from their local educational agencies. You can read more about the available services here.

Accessing the maximum amount of support will require both state education agencies and local school districts to fairly assess the needs of private schools and allocate resources accordingly.

To best advocate for your school to receive the equitable services you need, private schools need to contact their state Equitable Services Ombudsmen as soon as possible. Tell them about the challenges your school is facing, and encourage them to advocate strongly for you to receive the help you need and deserve.

Small Business Administration Paycheck Protection Loan Program

$350 billion in federal loans are available to all employers (including nonprofits) with 500 or fewer employees. Many of these loans can be forgiven if funds are used only for required purposes. 

Note that the loans may, in some cases, include requirements related to federal employment and non-discrimination law. We encourage you to review the below items—and the terms of the loans—with your boards, finance teams, and legal counsel.

Here are some resources you may find helpful:

Additional charitable giving incentives for 2020
The CARES Act makes several changes to incentivize giving to nonprofits for the duration of 2020. These changes are as follows:
  • Increases the percentage of income that itemizing taxpayers can deduct for charitable contributions from 60 percent to 100 percent
  • Increases the percentage of income that corporate taxpayers can deduct for charitable contributions from 10 percent to 25 percent
  • Adds a “universal deduction” of up to $300 for taxpayers who do not itemize (i.e., those who take the standard deduction)
Potential access to funds through the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund
We have been advised by several national partners that the U.S. Department of Education is considering rules (to be released next week) that would allow private schools to access direct funding made available to states for educational support.

This funding would be in addition to the equitable services private schools can access through their local school districts under the CARES Act (please see here for more details on equitable services access).

While final guidance from the U.S. Department of Education will be needed to confirm the availability of cash funding, we encourage any of you who are interested to share your stories of need with your governor. Please see below for contact information by state:

Arkansas
Governor Asa Hutchinson   Contact | Social
Colorado
Governor Jared Polis   Contact | Social
Kansas
Governor Laura Kelly   Contact | Social
Louisiana
Governor John Bel Edwards   Contact | Social
Missouri
Governor Mark Parson   Contact | Social
Montana
Governor Steve Bullock    Contact | Social
Texas
Governor Greg Abbott   Contact | Social
Wyoming
Governor Mark Gordon  Contact | Social

Support for Families and Staff

More Resources?

If you have other resources that you think that other schools would benefit from, please feel free to send them to Katrina Yoshida at kyoshida@acescholarships.org we can disseminate the information. 

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