Since 2020, Congress has appropriated more than $190 billion to states and local school districts in emergency COVID-19 funding to help address the needs created by the pandemic in schools. When, how, and on what those funds are being used for remain big questions for policymakers, as well as planning considerations for school leaders.
While there are data on the amount of funds states have received, there is less information about the amount districts have received and spent so far—though better tracking mechanisms are being developed. To help get a better sense of the situation in districts, ASCD recently conducted an informal survey of more than 200 school leaders to get their input on the status of their local funding, investments that have already been made, what their funding priorities will be moving forward, and what the timeline is for that spending.
In general, the top-line results suggest that education leaders’ initial spending was on equipment and hardware to help facilitate virtual learning and the eventual return of students to a healthy and safe in-person learning environment. With students now back in the school building, spending patterns (and plans) are shifting toward meeting students’ educational needs, with the areas of math, literacy, and mental health being top priorities. There is also an emphasis on supporting staff through professional development and additional compensation.
In an interesting twist, spending on technology and computers was a top priority earlier in the pandemic and remains so now, even with the transition back to in-person learning.
Below are several key takeaways from the responses that 239 ASCD members provided over a three-week period between December 21, 2021, and January 9, 2022.
- Personal protective equipment (PPE) (64%), technology/computers (63%), and improving indoor air quality (47%) were the three most popular school funding areas.
- In terms of planning future investments, 44% of school leaders identified summer and after-school learning as their top planned expenditure. Salaries and staff compensation (38%), support for mental health services (37%), tutoring (36%), and professional development (34%) were also top priorities. Investments in technology/computers remained high on the list (39%).
- Social-emotional learning (SEL) was the greatest professional development need identified by school leaders (55%), while literacy (51%) and math (48%) were the next two highest needs. When factoring in the PD needs for classroom behavior and management support (33%) and student engagement (27%) with SEL, it is clear that student well-being, relationships, and socialization are top concerns that educators will want help addressing moving forward.
- As far as the funding itself, many school and district leaders are in the dark. Eighty-five percent of school leaders knew that their district had received funds but only 62% knew that their school had received COVID-19 funding (35% were unsure). That uncertainty also applied to what percentage of their expected funds school leaders had received to date. Fifty six percent were not sure of how much of their total funding had been spent, which speaks less to what the money had been used for and more to the lack of understanding of how much schools are set to receive in total when all is said and done.
- School leaders were also asked to identify the biggest challenges to spending recovery funds. Top impediments were competing priorities (48%), not enough time to plan (34%), and waiting to see what needs emerge later this school year (34%).
- Thirty eight percent of school leaders plan to spend the majority of their Covid funding before the end of this school year. Eight percent plan to spend the majority this summer, and 31% percent plan to spend the majority in the 2022-23 school year.
Earlier this month, ASCD hosted a webinar to discuss these survey results. A panel of school leaders including Marc Cohen, Jamil Maroun, and Steven Weber provided an overview of pandemic recovery strategies and ways to use federal funding. Regardless of funding levels, the webinar drove home the sense that all educators and leaders are currently living a shared experience of crisis recovery and planning.
More data collection and reporting of the use of Covid funding by schools will be made public soon by the U.S. Department of Education, and Congress is sure to scrutinize school spending of these funds throughout the year as part of its oversight responsibilities.
