The message below was issued by the Missouri Department of Secondary and Elementary Education (DESE) in regards to the Coronavirus Aide, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act:

The CARES Act allows ALL nonpublic schools to participate in CARES Act services whether they have or have not participated in federal programs before. While Missouri has a robust nonpublic registration system where most nonpublic schools are registered, we know there are nonpublic schools across the state that are not registered. We have developed and posted to our CARES Act page a public notice asking nonpublic schools who have not registered with us but are interested in participating in services through the CARES Act to contact Julia Cowell, director of federal programs, or Theresa Villmer, assistant director of federal programs and the state ombudsman for equitable services.