COVID-era school staff facing cuts as ESSER, pandemic money ends - Austin American-Statesman | By The Perfect Enemy

With billions in school COVID-19 pandemic relief money facing spending deadlines, many district leaders don’t want the federal help to run out.

Several Central Texas school districts used the federal money to pay staffers, hire new tutors or implement other ongoing costs, and now officials hope to keep as many of those new positions as possible, despite increasing financial pressures.

Texas schools received $19.2 billion during the pandemic through several iterations of the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief fund, called ESSER, according to Texas Education Agency data.

Statewide, districts still have about 58%, or $11.2 billion, left to spend, according to the agency.

The clock is winding down, said Cory Green, associate commissioner for the TEA’s Department of Grant Compliance and Administration.

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Some of the funding — ESSER II money — which was signed into law December 2020, will expire in September, Green said. The last of the funding — ESSER III — was signed into law March 2021 and will expire in September 2024.

“There will come a point in time when district budgets are going to go back down to what their normal spending level is,” he said.

Districts spent much of this money on one-time costs, such as the $3.3 million the Austin district used for $250 vaccination bonuses for employees and almost $4 million for devices, infrastructure upgrades and other technology, according to district data.

The Austin district got about $247.3 million over two years, the most in Central Texas, and spent almost $60 million on academic support services such as tutoring, counseling and dyslexia intervention.

However, for many districts, the looming deadlines mean a potential end to several staff positions filled during the pandemic, such as tutors, teaching assistants and counselors.

The Hays district, which received about $25.2 million in ESSER funding, paid for about 50 employees using pandemic relief money, district spokesman Tim Savoy said.

The people in those positions were hired knowing they were funded by grants, he said.

“Depending on what the Legislature does with school funding, some of the positions may be converted to positions funded by the district if we are able to do so in the budget, but we don’t’ have a number yet,” Savoy said.

The district is also trying to fill open positions with those hired using ESSER funds, which include learning loss interventionalists, mental health counselors and behavior health specialists, Savoy said.

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The ESSER money was a welcome addition for many districts looking to fill gaps that existed before the pandemic, said Molly May, the Eanes district’s assistant superintendent of curriculum, instruction and assessment.

“The pandemic exacerbated the need, but the need did not go away,” May said. “Losing this (federal) funding without additional financial support from the state will create even more difficulties for districts.”

Eanes received about $3.9 million through ESSER, according to the district.

Officials hope to keep an ESSER-funded middle school-based therapist employed, but a decision won’t be made until the district goes through its budgeting process, they said.

Officials in the Jarrell district also want to keep employees hired with ESSER funding, but it’s too early to tell how many, spokesman Nick Spinetto said.

That district received $3.7 million and spent much of the money on positions such as counselors, instructional coaches and additional staffers to reduce class sizes, according to state and district records.

Districts do get a little leeway on spending deadlines if materials — such as for a new air conditioning or filtering system — are delayed, Green said. As long as the money is spent before the deadline, the federal government will give districts a reprieve, he said.

However, those deadline extensions won’t apply to payroll costs, he said.

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Published on The Perfect Enemy at https://bit.ly/3jeIzi2.