COURT HOUSE – In a series of three large Covid relief bills passed in consecutive years, the federal government awarded $189.5 billion to state education agencies to deal with the impact of the pandemic on the nation’s schools.
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was a $2 trillion aid package, in 2020, that contained a broad array of programs for direct aid to individuals, expanded unemployment benefits, foreclosure and eviction support, the paycheck protection program, and more. Included was $13.2 billion for elementary and high school relief.
In 2021, the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Act (CRRSA) allocated $54.3 billion for the nation’s primary and secondary schools.
The American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act contained the largest of the federal funding for state and local education agencies, at $122 billion.
Collectively, the programs became known as Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER), with $6.2 billion of that funding coming to New Jersey for elementary, secondary, and higher education relief. Over 90% of the primary and secondary funding was to be directed to the state’s 686 local education agencies.
Cape May County’s 13 municipal operating school districts, two county school districts, and one regional school district were designated to receive a total of $44 million. The accompanying graphic shows the funding for each district.
The funds are allocated from the federal government to the states, and from the state education agency to the local level, with a plethora of reports and plans required at every level.
Each of the bills that provided money to the ESSER contained a list of acceptable uses for the funds, along with annual reporting requirements on their use.
How Have the Funds Been Used?
For the most part, it is too early to say in any comprehensive way, but there are some records of use available.
The U.S. Department of Education reports spending data for ESSER, with 77% of New Jersey’s CARES funds spent, 11.8% of the CRRSA funds spent, and 0% of the ARP funds spent.
The data shows the early relief dollars were largely aimed at educational technology and sanitization needs. The federal data on local agency spending in Cape May County shows seven local school districts reporting spending that ranged from $256,020, at Lower Cape May Regional, to $45,712, at North Wildwood, all with the same emphasis on technology and sanitization.
An annual report from the state to the federal government is required, but it is based on periodization that matches the federal fiscal year. Only one such report has been issued so far. It was dated March 31, 2021, covering the period to Sept. 30, 2020. It is this report that supplies most of the spending information for Cape May County through the earliest months of the pandemic, and only after the emergency funds became available.
The next annual report due at the end of March 2022 and covering the period to Sept. 30, 2021, should offer greater insight into how the relief dollars are being used.
What’s available now is a series of plans for the use of funds through the latest ARP ESSER funding. The plans cover the period from when funding was first available in March 2020 through the last date when funds can be obligated, Sept. 30, 2024. Some of the plans are not specific, while others provide a focus for the use of the funds.
Many of the county’s school districts plan to use the federal relief funding to upgrade or replace aging HVAC systems. Lower Cape May Regional allocated $1.7 million in ESSER funds to lower the expense associated with a bond issue for HVAC replacements at the high school and middle school.
In the school districts’ plans, Lower Township Elementary, Middle Township, Wildwood, and Woodbine school districts all added a need to use funds for the rejuvenation of HVAC systems.
In Lower Township Elementary, the plan calls for the use of $3.5 million of the relief funds, along with capital reserves, to offset the cost of about 25% of a $20 million capital improvement effort.
Wildwood placed an emphasis on its 100-year-old building, housing the high school and middle school. The need, according to the district plan, was for heating, ventilation, and HVAC modernization.
Other districts have focused their intended use of funds away from the physical needs of their buildings. In West Cape May, the plan calls for a single focus on the academic issues caused by the pandemic and an effort to close the gap back to “educational superiority.” The district also hopes to use funds to assist with out-of-district special education tuition expenses.
Some of the districts spoke of creating outdoor learning spaces. It was a theme found in Middle Township’s and the county Technical School District’s plans.
Almost all plans indicated a need for summer and afterschool programs for dealing with learning loss and targeted help for students. In many of the plans, this focus includes the hiring of additional teachers to allow for small group instruction efforts.
Districts that said they would seek supplemental teachers included Middle Township, Dennis Township, and Wildwood Crest.
The plan from Dennis Township schools spoke of extended learning time as key to recovery. It was a theme throughout many of the districts’ plans. Most districts spoke of identifying students in need and providing avenues for extended, small-group instruction.
Funds from the CARES Act must be obligated by Sept. 30, 2022. Those from CRRSA must be designated by Sept. 30, 2023. The largest funding source, the ARP, requires funds to be obligated by Sept. 30, 2024.
This means many decisions still need to be made on how the millions in school relief funds will be used.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.
