Key points:
- Careful budget diagnosis and prioritization is essential as districts near the ESSER expiration in 2024
- So many schools have unmet needs, and financial disasters would negatively impact those already-serious funding situations
- See related article: As COVID relief spending deadlines loom, one district moves ahead with an uncommon tech plan
Among all institutions impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, few faced challenges as profound and fast-moving as America’s public schools. But as many large organizations return to normal, school districts face a daunting challenge: key federal relief funds are set to expire next September.
In 2020 and 2021, Congress passed the CARES and ARP Acts, which created and added to the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Program (ESSER). In total, ESSER funding has provided $190 billion for K-12 school districts across the country–an amount that has surpassed the annual budget of the U.S. Department of Education in recent years. For many districts, ESSER funding has been instrumental in helping serve students’ heightened needs during the COVID-19 pandemic and allowed schools to avoid financial catastrophe. …Read More