Nevada charter schools got millions in PPP loans
As state budget cuts have strained the public education system, Nevada’s publicly financed charter schools have been able to shore up operations with millions of dollars from the federal Paycheck Protection Program designed to help businesses and nonprofits.
Nevada charter schools this year accepted $31 million from the Paycheck Protection Programs. The federal funds, which were not available to school districts, allowed charter schools to weather the uncertainty of the state’s economic crisis and keep their budgets mostly whole. Their qualification for — and their acceptance of — PPP funds highlights the quasi-public-private structure of charter schools, which receive state funding but are managed privately.
The Current calculated the $31 million total using data released by the U.S. Treasury in early December. Charter schools overseen by the State Public Charter School Authority received the majority of that money — $27.3 million. However, six charters sponsored by school districts received a combined $4.5 million.
PPP awards ranged from $168,500 to the online charter Leadership Academy of Nevada to $4.6 million to Doral Academy to support its five brick-and-mortar campuses in Southern Nevada. Many of the forgivable loans were coordinated and handled by the same entity, Academica Nevada, a regional branch of the Florida-based for-profit company that manages some 200 charter schools nationwide and has a strong presence in Nevada.
Read more: https://www.nevadacurrent.com/2020/12/24/nevada-charter-schools-got-millions-in-ppp-loans/