A new report from the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) concludes that, by the end of the 2021-22 school year, US school districts had spent about $60 billion in federal COVID-19 emergency aid through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) fund.
Eighty percent of this money was used to address students' social-emotional needs and to keep schools running, while 20% went to addressing health concerns, including improving ventilation, enhanced cleaning and disinfection, and hiring school psychologists.
To conduct the report, GAO investigators visited 17 school districts in six states, including rural, urban, and suburban schools.
Of the schools visited and surveyed, nearly half (48.2%) said they used the federal relief funds to increase building ventilation. Another 51.7% used funds for physical distancing measures, and 67.1% said they used the funds to enhance cleaning and disinfection practices.
Eighty percent of ESSER spending through school year 2021-22 went to addressing students' academic, social, and emotional needs and continuing school operations, the report said. For example, most of the districts that GAO visited added instructional time, and many bought new curricula. Officials from 12 of the 17 school districts surveyed said they hired social workers or school psychologists or purchased telehealth therapy services.
Some money went to new staff
In addition to mental health services, ESSER funds were used to cover new staff salaries, buy school supplies, and purchase technical or professional services.
Officials from 14 of our 17 districts told us they intended to sustain at least one ESSER-funded activity after funding expire.
"Officials from 14 of our 17 districts told us they intended to sustain at least one ESSER-funded activity after funding expired," the report said. "For example, officials from one district said that they had seen strong academic gains from students that participated in the district's enhanced summer programming and would maintain that effort."
Several school districts reported using funds to hire more counselors, in part to address rising mental health issues among students. Schools in rural districts, however, reported trouble accessing such staff.
Overall, school officials interviewed in the report said they did not know if ESSER funding would solve all the problems the pandemic presented to US students. Many officials voiced concern that they would not be able to offer a continuity of ESSER-funded programs in the coming school years, and student re-engagement is an ongoing struggle.
