Many school districts across the nation could be required to return millions of dollars to the U.S. Treasury if they don’t spend their remaining post-COVID relief grant money within 30 days, according to federal data.
Georgetown University’s Edunomics Lab tracks the spending of American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds, which the U.S. Department of Education distributed to school districts over three phases since 2021.
The $122 billion program aimed to boost learning recovery in the wake of the pandemic, partially rebuild the educator workforce, and help schools operate safely. The Edunomics Lab previously reported that most of the money was spent on labor, including additional teachers, counselors, classroom aids, tutors/reading coaches, subject area specialists, and administrators.
According to data released by Edunomics Labs on Aug. 22, nine districts have yet to submit for reimbursement for more than $30 million of previously granted ESSER funds.
In an Aug. 30 email response to The Epoch Times, the U.S. Department of Education affirmed that it cannot extend the deadline for expenditure approvals past Sept. 30 and it will not allow them to transfer any leftover money to a “rainy day account.”
Districts can request additional time to spend down the money if the U.S. Department of Education approves the expenditure prior to Sept. 30. Liquidation extension requests are due Dec. 31.
The smallest district on the unspent list is Syracuse city in New York with $74.45 million out of $108.86 million used so far while Clark County in Nevada has spent $1.15 billion out of its total allocation of $1.20 billion.
Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) in Wisconsin has spent $570 million out its total allocation while Hillsborough County Public Schools in Florida received $766 million with only a small amount remaining unallocated.
The Dallas Independent School District (DISD) has spent around two-thirds ($566 million) out its total allocation ($846 million). Other districts with significant unspent amounts include Minneapolis ($249 million), Newark ($277 million), DeKalb County ($486 million), and Stockton ($241 million).
In previous rounds of ESSER funding there were some school districts that failed to spend their grants on time and had return them.