KSC receives $2.9 million reimbursement from FEMA for COVID tests

Trisha Nail, The Keene Sentinel, N.H.
·2 min read

Sep. 27—Keene State College will receive a multi-million dollar federal grant reimbursing costs spent on COVID-19 testing.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced in a news release Friday that it will award the state $2,955,360 to help Keene State recoup costs spent on COVID-19 testing. The college will receive the reimbursement "in the next few weeks," according to Colin Burdick, construction clerk of the works at Keene State and a member of the school's COVID Response Team.

The FEMA Public Assistance grant covers a testing period of July-October 2020, during which time 27,099 tests were given to students, faculty and staff, according to the agency. Burdick said Keene State is expecting to receive additional grants to recoup testing expenses during other points of the pandemic.

"FEMA is pleased to be able to assist Keene State College with these costs," FEMA Region 1 Regional Administrator Lori Ehrlich said in the news release. "Providing resources for our institutions of higher education to combat the COVID-19 pandemic is critical to their success, and to our success as a nation."

Burdick said in an email Monday the $2.9 million grant covers expenditures associated with testing samples, lab analysis and sample collection reporting and administrative tasks.

"FEMA has a very thorough and painstaking process for disaster relief," Burdick said the email. "Without the help from our Homeland Security and Emergency Management partners, we wouldn't have received these funds as 'quickly.' "

FEMA stated in the news release that the grant also aims to compensate Keene State for paying a $20 setup administration fee for 12,273 people in registering them to get tested and performing the tests, then providing test results.

"On-campus surveillance testing was a logistical and costly challenge in so many ways," said Paul Miller, the college's director of strategic communications, in the same email Monday. "These funds are not extra, but offsetting, and come as good news for the college, as have other federal relief bills."

Keene State conducted campus-wide surveillance testing for roughly 3,200 students and 700 staff members at least once a week throughout the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years.

The news release from FEMA states the agency has provided more than $161 million in Public Assistance grants to the state to recoup pandemic-related expenses.

Trisha Nail can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1436, or tnail@keenesentinel.com. Follow her on Twitter at @byTrishaNail.