WEST CANAAN — The Mascoma Valley Regional School District has received reimbursement of pandemic-era grants it used to improve ventilation systems in two of its schools.
The district received the money early last week after the New Hampshire Executive Council approved the roughly $400,000 during its Sept 17 meeting, Superintendent Amanda Isabelle wrote in an email.
The district spent the money it was expecting to receive from the COVID-19 pandemic-era Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief fund, also known as ESSER, to upgrade the ventilation systems at Canaan Elementary School and Enfield Village School.
The project at Enfield Village School took longer than anticipated and the school district applied for an extension to access the funds, Isabelle told the Valley News in June. The work was completed in March 2025.
Initially, Mascoma received an extension to spend the funding. In March, however, the U.S. Department of Education sent notices to state education departments around the country rescinding extensions granted to school districts, including Mascoma.
The district reapplied for the extension, but the department denied it in May.
It took intervention by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., to get the U.S. Department of Education to ultimately approve the request, Isabelle said.