FEMA Awards Over $1.1 Million to Dean College for COVID-19 Testing and Disinfection

BOSTON – The Federal Emergency Management Agency will be sending more than $1.1 million to Dean College to reimburse the college for the cost of contracting to manage and administer diagnostic testing and disinfection during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The $1,152,033 Public Assistance grant will reimburse the private college in Franklin for the cost of diagnostic testing and disinfection between October 2021 and March 2022.

In addition to contractors administering 33,444 PCR tests to 1,573 students, faculty, and staff on the campus, contractors also provided additional cleaning and disinfection of the classrooms and residence halls.

“FEMA is pleased to be able to assist Dean College with these costs,” said FEMA Region 1 Regional Administrator Lori Ehrlich. “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.”

FEMA’s Public Assistance program is an essential source of funding for states, communities and certain private non profit organizations recovering from a federally declared disaster or emergency.

So far, FEMA has provided almost $1.4 billion in Public Assistance grants to Massachusetts to reimburse the commonwealth for pandemic-related expenses.