Opinion: Hold school districts accountable for use of COVID dollars

The kerfuffle over the $76 million in “hazard pay” bonuses appropriated by the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors to county employees for their work during the pandemic is noteworthy.  It is also a serious cautionary note to all taxpayers. Who do we hold responsible and accountable for the vast amounts of American Rescue Plan dollars available to school districts?

The federal dollars for schools rightly were appropriated to reduce the pandemic’s impact for students through the purchase of health screening tools, funds for learning loss and to address the rising mental health concerns of students who were dealing with the stress of virtual learning lockdowns while not in school. The U.S. Congress’ appropriations to California to effectuate a safe and orderly return to in-person learning were provided to states to allocate to Local Education Agencies (LEA), including all school districts and county offices.

The American Rescue Plan’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package was signed by President Biden in March 2021 with the provision that $122 billion allocated under the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds would be provided to schools throughout the country. Fifteen billion of the $122 billion of the federal total for the ESSER funds were appropriated to California. Five billion additional dollars were to be provided to California once an approved plan was submitted and approved by the U.S. Department of Education.

California was notified Nov. 6 that the state’s plan for the additional $5 billion in ESSER III funding was approved. The ESSER III dollars are allocated to local education agencies (school district or county office).  According to County Superintendent Mary Ann Dewan most of the funding is flexible, although LEAs must set aside 20% of their ESSER III dollars for “learning loss mitigation” measures.  These expenditures to address learning loss during the pandemic can include expanded learning programs, before school and after school, and expanded summer school learning opportunities. In addition, there is $1.5 billion set aside for California that is intended to support the Expanded Learning Opportunity (ELO) grant program.

San Jose Unified School District, the largest in Santa Clara County with nearly 30,000 students, will receive $22,6 million in ESSER III funds.  Their ESSER II allotment was $12.6 million.  As a trustee in Area 4 on the Santa Clara County Board of Education one of my districts that I am elected to represent is San Jose Unified. When combined the per student average for ESSER II and ESSER III is approximately $1,177 for each of the district’s students.

One major area for concern is how do county taxpayers make certain parents of the students, especially those most vulnerable students who have lost 1-1.5 years of learning during the pandemic, recover their learning losses?  How will districts make this information transparent to their stakeholders and the media? Will districts prioritize the students who need the most help in recovery their learning losses?  Will mental health professionals be hired to support struggling students at school?  Will there be a district focus on the primary grades for the expenditure of these supplemental funds? Will districts use the “flexible” funds for bonus pay for staff and faculty?  Have unions placed these funds as a discussion point on the bargaining table?

Distance learning and closure of schools created a myriad of issues for many children.  To help schools and students address pandemic related challenges I am certain many of you have a number of serious questions and concerns.  Chief among them for me is the efficacy of expenditures districts will make in the next several months on programs for students and addressing learning loss.  Will taxpayers demand transparency?  Live streamed district board meetings? Will parents have enough information to ask the right questions?  I promise my constituency I will do my best to keep you informed.  I plan on having a virtual town hall discussion in January to provide an update.

Joseph Di Salvo represents Area 4 on the Santa Clara County Office of Education Board of Trustees.