Sacramento schools bought laptops, PPE with Trump’s stimulus. What’s planned for Biden’s?
Local school districts spent virtually all of the tens of millions of dollars they were due in federal COVID-19 relief last year, using it to fulfill needs they had never seen before.
And there’s lots more to come.
Now that the Chromebooks, the personal protective equipment and other special items have been secured with federal funds, California’s K-12 schools stand to gain another $16 billion. It’s coming from the $1.9 trillion coronavirus stimulus law President Joe Biden signed in March.
This time, the money can be used for more than hardware and plugging budget holes. Some of it is intended to make up for students’ pandemic learning loss.
Sacramento County Superintendent Dave Gordon said he hopes to see the new funds spent on summer programs, extended year programs, mental health and social emotional support and activities that are emotionally nourishing for students including band, the arts and drama.
“We won’t know how necessary those social and emotional supports will be until we see our young people and see and assess their state of mind,” Gordon said. “And it must be done in a way that’s sustained for our young people. Coming out of this is not going to be a quick fix for all of our kids.”
The first burst of new school money is expected sometime next month. The results may not be obvious right away.
California Department of Education officials said that spending plans can move slowly. Schools often need to obtain permits and approval from school boards. Some projects, like redoing entire HVAC systems during the pandemic, take longer than purchasing laptops for students.
Schools are doing everything they can to spend their funds, state education officials said.
“Extraordinary challenges during this pandemic have created immense needs for California students, and it’s clearer than ever that the billions in new resources provided to schools have been a lifeline for educators as they’ve worked to keep students safe and shift to new ways of learning,” said State Superintendent of Schools Tony Thurmond.
Schools are preparing to spend the money as Biden’s stimulus plan continues to face scrutiny from Republicans who view it as excessive following the $2.2 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill former President Trump signed in March 2020.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said the administration wants to spend more money because it has the votes to do it and is trying to satisfy friendly constituencies.
“It takes a long time to spend trillions of dollars,” said Cornyn, a Senate Finance Committee member. “It’s actually harder than you would think. But it seems like we’re just kind of awash in federal spending, and I know there were some numbers that suggested that inflation may be at our door, and so I’m concerned about that.”
California governments, businesses and residents were due to get a total of $272 billion in federal help last year, including $15 billion from a special coronavirus relief fund. All but $13 billion has been spent, according to the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget
The Sacramento Bee checked with local school districts in Sacramento County, and most of the school districts said they spent the allotted 2020 money.
Chromebooks and telework
Sacramento City Unified was awarded and spent $35.3 million last year for various programs including food assistance, telework and administrative expenses.
Natomas Unified plans to spend all of its $9.9 million by June 30. The funds will be spent on services including day camps, technology, WiFi service cost, virtual tutoring and COVID-19 testing and vaccinations.
San Juan Unified was allotted $21.14 million, according to federal documents. District officials said they spent the allocation mostly on technology such as Google Chromebooks.
Elk Grove Unified received and spent $35.2 million, some of which was spent on distance learning and to improve telework.
Folsom Cordova Unified was allotted $8.56 million, and spent nearly all of it thus far.
Smaller schools received funding as well, including Highlands Community Charter School, Sacramento Charter High School.
Looking ahead
School districts are set to receive money from Biden’s stimulus and have until late 2023 to spend it.
Sacramento City Unified School District could receive about $147 million, according to estimates from the education nonprofit EdSource.
Elk Grove Unified is slated to receive about $150 million, Rep. Ami Bera, D-Elk Grove, told the Elk Grove City Council earlier this month.
Some local school representatives, including Stanislaus County Superintendent of Schools Scott Kuykendall, are asking lawmakers if it’s possible to extend spending deadlines.
Kuykendall earlier this month told Rep. Josh Harder, D-Turlock, he was concerned that some districts would either be forced to make budget decisions that perhaps aren’t the most responsible or effective, or send the money back.
The county superintendent told The Modesto Bee that in his talk with Harder, “I wanted to stress the point that it’s extremely difficult for districts to spend down these large sums of one-time dollars within a restrictive time frame. Because of their one-time nature, it’s nearly impossible from a sustainability perspective to add personnel for long-term solutions (i.e. additional counselors, teachers for smaller class sizes or after school programs).”
Some parents are eager to see the new money be put to use.
Jonathan Zachreson, a Roseville parent and founder of the Reopen California Schools Facebook group, says the previous stimulus money should have helped reopen schools across the state for in-person education much earlier.
“That failed in California,” he said.
Now Zachreson hopes future funds go directly to in-person education programs and activities for students.
“Anything else, like bonuses to staff not returning to in-person, is a misappropriation of funds and violates the social contract we have with education institutions,” Zachreson said.
This story was originally published April 23, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
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