A brand new report from the US Authorities Accountability Workplace (GAO) concludes that, by the tip of the 2021-22 faculty yr, US faculty districts had spent about $60 billion in federal COVID-19 emergency assist via the Elementary and Secondary College Emergency Aid (ESSER) fund.
Eighty p.c of this cash was used to handle college students’ social-emotional wants and to maintain faculties working, whereas 20% went to addressing well being considerations, together with enhancing air flow, enhanced cleansing and disinfection, and hiring faculty psychologists.
To conduct the report, GAO investigators visited 17 faculty districts in six states, together with rural, city, and suburban faculties.
Of the faculties visited and surveyed, practically half (48.2%) mentioned they used the federal reduction funds to extend constructing air flow. One other 51.7% used funds for bodily distancing measures, and 67.1% mentioned they used the funds to boost cleansing and disinfection practices.
Eighty p.c of ESSER spending via faculty yr 2021-22 went to addressing college students’ educational, social, and emotional wants and persevering with faculty operations, the report mentioned. For instance, many of the districts that GAO visited added tutorial time, and plenty of purchased new curricula. Officers from 12 of the 17 faculty districts surveyed mentioned they employed social employees or faculty psychologists or bought telehealth remedy providers.
Some cash went to new workers
Along with psychological well being providers, ESSER funds had been used to cowl new workers salaries, purchase faculty provides, and buy technical or skilled providers.
Officers from 14 of our 17 districts advised us they supposed to maintain no less than one ESSER-funded exercise after funding expire.
“Officers from 14 of our 17 districts advised us they supposed to maintain no less than one ESSER-funded exercise after funding expired,” the report mentioned. “For instance, officers from one district mentioned that they’d seen sturdy educational positive factors from college students that participated within the district’s enhanced summer time programming and would preserve that effort.”
A number of faculty districts reported utilizing funds to rent extra counselors, partially to handle rising psychological well being points amongst college students. Colleges in rural districts, nonetheless, reported bother accessing such workers.
General, faculty officers interviewed within the report mentioned they didn’t know if ESSER funding would clear up all the issues the pandemic introduced to US college students. Many officers voiced concern that they might not be capable to supply a continuity of ESSER-funded applications within the coming faculty years, and pupil re-engagement is an ongoing wrestle.
