includes Private School Provisions
TEA Tells Districts What They Will Get
From $1.29 Billion First-Round CARES Act
The TEA posted (May 21) the grant amounts (by ISD and charter, and by service center area) that ISDs and charter districts can expect to receive from the $1.29 billion in the first round of federal pandemic relief funds targeted for schools, and provided guidance on how the money can be spent. (see also this TEA FAQ)
The funding is under the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) grant program of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
Districts will have to formally apply to TEA for their share of the funding, and the agency says that districts could start receiving their money in June.
Student Poverty Levels
The funding amounts are tied to student poverty levels. Funding is structured so that 90 percent of the money is allocated to districts that, in School Year 2019-20, received federal Title I, Part A, allotments due to having large percentages of students from low-income families.
Houston ISD, the state’s largest school system, will receive the largest allotment ($81.72 million). Districts with no Title I/A funding — such as the ultra wealthy Highland Park ISD in Dallas County — will receive no funding. The property poor Edgewood ISD in San Antonio will get $5 million.
Districts can spend the funds for eligible expenses from March 13, 2020, through
Unlike most other types of grants that require the grant money to be used to supplement (add to) — not supplant (replace) — money spent for existing programs and services, the CARES funding can be used to either supplement or supplant, and that districts should “maximize” how they use the funds.
The guidance further cautions that ESSER funds are required, “to the greatest extent practicable,” to be used to continue to pay employees and contractors during the period of any pandemic-related disruptions or closures.
Private Schools
The TEA’s guidance reflects that the state will carry out the directive voiced by U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos that all public schools receiving the pandemic-related funding under the purview of the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) must provide “equitable services” to all private schools within the boundaries of public schools receiving the federal aid.
This would differ from current federal regulations that require only public schools receiving Title I funds to provide services to low income private school students within their boundaries.
The equitable services typically include, for instance, tutoring, student counseling, professional development for the private schools’ teachers, etc.
A mostly bi-partisan group of lawmakers has reportedly been pushing back on DeVos’ interpretation of CARES Act requirements to mandate that all public schools receiving funding under the Act must provide services to all private schools within their boundaries.
Will Provide More Info
The TEA, meanwhile, says that it will provide more info about the private school requirements soon, but emphasized that the requirement is that public schools must provide services to — and not funding for — “nonprofit private schools.” The agency also advised districts that they can’t seek reimbursement from the state for expenses paid out of their CARES Act funds for the services they provide to private schools.
The TEA scheduled a series of online application training sessions on various days from June 1 to June 12, as well as for other CARES Act-related topics.
Other Upcoming Funding Opportunities
The TEA also provided districts (also in this previously referenced FAQ) with a summary of these upcoming school-related funding opportunities:
- $6.2 billion CARES Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) allocation to Texas by the U.S. Department of Treasury that is expected to allocate to every Texas district funding based on the number of comp-ed students, with each district getting at least $50,000. The funding is to be used to reimburse districts for up to 75 percent of actual, eligible pandemic related expenses incurred from March 1, 2020, through May 20, 2020.
The anticipated application period starts on July 15.
- USDE-administered School Emergency Response to Violence (SERV) grants, to be distributed on a formula basis, that could fund some additional pandemic related expenditures.
- Federal Child Care Development Block Grant program to reimburse the small number of districts that provided child care to the children of essential workers.
- Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grants for reimbursable expenses, such as for cleaning and sanitizing.
- Additional National School Lunch funding to help pay for additional meals that were served due to the closure of schools.