MESA, AZ — Arizona public schools and charters received more than $2.2 billion in the last three years thanks to a federal fund program. But this school year is the last one they’ll be getting any of that.
It’s called the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund, or ESSER for short. There were three phases of the ESSER funds, which became grant money coming from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Services Act (CARES), Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations (CRRSA), and the American Rescue Plan.
The money is meant to help schools address any relief, prevention, preparation and any learning recovery efforts related to COVID-19.
Mesa Public Schools, the state’s largest school district, received about $250 million in the last three years. The Arizona Department of Education(ADE) says the money is allocated to districts based on formulas tied to student counts.
The ADE says the third phase of funding went to four categories: technology, learning loss mitigation, facility improvements and professional development. Specifics vary from district to district.
Holly Williams, the associate superintendent of Mesa Public Schools, said they received ESSER money almost immediately after they returned to the classroom in the fall of 2020.
In the beginning, Williams said that money went to buy PPE, improve HVAC systems and help pay certain staff who may otherwise leave since the students were not in class at the beginning of COVID.
“It was crucial for us, in the beginning, to keep our employees employed. To make sure they had jobs, that they didn’t need to go find other jobs so that when we were able to reopen, they didn’t have to quit a job and come back. Or not come back at all. We were worried about that,” said Williams.
The funds also went to help students with their learning because of the pandemic’s disruptions.
The district used those funds to help teachers get more training, more curriculum as well as any needs individual schools need to help kids get back on track after COVID.
Williams said the ESSER funds also helped fund positions like instructional coaches and others. However, with the funding ending in the next year, Williams said they’re evaluating programs that may be kept next year if they feel it’s needed.
“Of course, there’s a concern about a cliff with it going away. But we have been planning for that from the beginning,” Williams said. “We invested our money knowing that it was short-term money. We didn’t look to things that would hurt us system-wide too badly if it went away.”
The district also used the money to expand summer programs for kids. She said they saw higher participation over the last few summers with it. But with it going away, they’ve also seen interest waning.
“We are scaling it back at the level of interest from families,” she said. “We have other funding sources, the grants that we can continue our summer programming and we intend to do that.”
As for the staff that was funded by ESSER, Williams said they are taking a look at how to incorporate the needed positions in the next budget cycle.
“We’re finding with our positions, that they’re making a significant difference with our students and the working conditions in our buildings, prioritizing them in the next budget cycle will be one of our top priorities,” said Williams.
The Tempe Elementary School District told ABC15 83% of the money they used from last year’s ESSER Funds went to salaries and benefits. Though the funding will end next year, a spokesperson said they do not expect any impact because of “anticipated natural staff turnover and attrition.”
While one study shows that Arizona is one of 15 states in the nation to most likely face a difficult challenge in losing money next year, school districts ABC15 reached out to say they’ve been planning for the end of these funds since the start.
If there are any ongoing programs they need, they hope to find other funding opportunities.
