Time is working out for college districts to spend their remaining federal COVID-relief {dollars}—until districts efficiently get approval to take a little bit longer.
Districts should nonetheless commit all their funds from the final, and largest, spherical of support to particular bills by Sept. 30. Below present legislation, they’ve an extra 5 months to “liquidate,” or spend, that cash—transferring it from a district account to a vendor or worker by Jan. 31, 2025.
For every of the three rounds of pandemic-relief, or ESSER, funding from the federal authorities, the U.S. Division of Training has additionally opened a possibility for “late liquidation” of as much as 14 further months past the unique deadline.
Districts permitted to liquidate the final spherical of aid support late may spend remaining ESSER funds as late as Might 2026. They should begin making ready now for that risk in the event that they haven’t already, mentioned Julia Martin, the legislative director for Brustein & Manasevit, a Washington legislation agency centered on schooling.
“It appears to be in [the federal department]’s curiosity to approve many of those extensions and maximize the affect of the funds, in addition to the share spent,” Martin mentioned. “However districts have to assist them make that argument.”
Organizations that characterize college superintendents have pushed for a broader deadline extension that provides districts extra flexibility to wrap up their ESSER spending. However Congress is nearly assured to not take up that request.
Within the meantime, “late liquidation” affords a restricted alternative for districts to maintain ESSER within the combine a short while longer. Right here’s the way it works.
Which bills qualify for an extension?
The chance to spend ESSER funds previous the deadline solely applies to bills tied to contracts. In a January 2024 letter, division officers emphasised assist for continued investments in “rising day by day pupil attendance; offering high-quality tutoring; and rising entry to [before- and after-school learning] and summer season studying and prolonged studying time.”
Instructor salaries, recruitment bonuses, and bulk purchases of laptops or textbooks are examples of bills that aren’t eligible for extension.
How will a liquidation extension assist?
It would give districts extra time to spend cash for a contract that extends previous Jan. 31, 2025. Meaning they may maintain a psychological well being service supplier, a tutoring associate, or a building firm round for the rest of the present college yr and into the following one.
It won’t, nevertheless, give districts extra time to determine tips on how to allocate their remaining {dollars}. These selections should be last as of Sept. 30.
In any other case, districts should ship their unallocated funds again to the U.S. Treasury.
How can districts get an extension?
Districts want to produce their respective state schooling departments with detailed details about the amount of cash they want extra time to spend, the required bills, the justification for the proposed extension, and the plan for guaranteeing that the district spends the cash within the appropriate time-frame.
Then it’s the state’s duty to compile that data right into a spreadsheet linked on this information from the Council of Chief State College Officers. The state schooling division also can request an extension for the ESSER funds it acquired—10 p.c of the state’s general allocation from the federal authorities.
Some states—like Connecticut and New Hampshire—have already publicly posted detailed guidelines and expectations for districts looking for late liquidation requests.
Many others don’t seem to have something on their ESSER internet pages referring to late liquidation. Districts in these states should contact their schooling departments immediately for extra data.
What’s the deadline to use for an extension?
States can request an extension between now and Dec. 31, 2024—three months after the deadline to commit the funds and fewer than a month earlier than the present deadline to liquidate them.
It stays to be seen how shortly the Training Division will course of extension requests that are available in near the deadline.
As of April 11, no states have submitted functions for late liquidation of ESSER III {dollars} on behalf of districts, mentioned Vanessa Harmoush, a spokesperson for the Training Division.
What occurred with extensions for ESSER I and ESSER II?
The division granted each request from states that utilized on behalf of districts for a liquidation extension for ESSER I and ESSER II, Harmoush mentioned. No functions had been rejected.
The division granted late liquidation for ESSER I to 10 states, Harmoush mentioned: Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin. Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia additionally acquired extensions.
For ESSER II, 19 states together with Puerto Rico acquired extensions: Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, and Vermont.
Does a deadline extension cowl the staffing essential to handle the grant till it’s accomplished?
No. Employees salaries aren’t eligible for late liquidation requests. Meaning the college district worker chargeable for managing the grant should be compensated with funds apart from ESSER {dollars}—even when they’re serving to handle a contract funded by ESSER.
Can districts shift ESSER {dollars} to a different expense if a contractor pulls out after the late liquidation interval begins?
No. The duty deadline stands agency on Sept. 30. If a district receives approval to take further months to liquidate funds for a selected contract, and that contract falls aside for no matter motive, the district can now not use the funds that had been put aside for that function.
