By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
The USD 489 Foundation for Educational Excellence presented the district with $65,000 Monday night to be used for continued work on secure school entrances.
The foundation was unable to conduct its annual dinner and auction this year because of the pandemic. It applied and received $75,000 in CARES Act funds through Ellis County, said Curtis Brown, foundation president.
"We were very pleased we got that grant," Brown said. "That money was very useful. We were racking our brains on how we were going to raise this money. We lost a lot of revenue from that auction."
The next school scheduled for a secure entrance is O'Loughlin Elementary School.
The other $10,000 was awarded to schools for smaller projects. The foundation purchased after school snacks for Lincoln Elementary School, paid for special education testing kits, purchased PE equipment at O'Loughlin and funded a grant for the Westside program for a renovation project.
The foundation is already planning for next year's auction, which will be Oct. 23.