July 30, 2020
By KEITH RYAN CARTWRIGHT
Rutherford County Schools
After being suspended back in March, field operations resumed for the 2020 Census and Rutherford County residents are encouraged to participate.
The 2020 Census is happening now through Oct. 31.
Accurate census numbers impact community funding throughout Rutherford County for everything from public services, hospitals, fire department and school systems like Rutherford County Schools every year for the next decade.
Census results specifically help determine how money is allocated for the Head Start and Title I programs, national school lunch programs, school breakfast program, supplemental nutrition assistance program, Federal Pell Grant program, adult education grants, rural education, special education preschool grants and for grants that support teachers and k-12 special education programs.
The count is mandated by the Constitution and conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, a nonpartisan government agency. The 2020 Census counts the population in the United States and five U.S. territories (Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands). Each home will receive an invitation to respond to a short questionnaire—online, by phone, or by mail—between March 12-20, according to www.2020census.gov.
The original deadline of April 1 was extended when the census was paused because of the coronavirus pandemic.
However, despite the extended timeframe, it is important to know when completing the census, you will include everyone living in your home on April 1, 2020.
If you have not already responded, please, do so by logging onto www.2020census.gov or respond to the questionnaire your household received by mail.