Which districts could return relief dollars to the Feds?

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A timely update from the Edunomics Lab at Georgetown’s McCourt School.

Here comes the ESSER deadline. Which districts might miss it?

It happened with ESSER 2: Some districts sent money back to the US Treasury. Typically it was small dollar figures (e.g., $17K in Las Cruces, NM and $30K in Sumter, SC). But a few were substantial (e.g., > $1M from a CT charter, and $500K in each of Scottsboro, AL and Lyle, WA).

It’ll happen again: With ESSER 3 being much larger, bigger sums could be left on the table when crossing the Sept 30th finish line. Our ESSER tracker shows how much each district still has to claim for reimbursement.

A caveat on our tracker: some districts have spent the money, just haven’t yet sought reimbursement from the SEA. Waiting til the last minute carries some risks. It leaves little time to regroup if an expense gets denied, or there’s an accounting error, or a staffing hiccup hits the finance department. With one month left on this 42-month grant, many districts are cutting it close.

But wait, wasn’t there an EXTENSION? This has been confusing. Here’s what you need to know:

Some SEAs won’t apply (MT, WA, WY, others?) so no extensions for districts in those states.
No extension for payroll: Last day to use ESSER for labor is 9/30/24.
Eligible vendor contracts must be signed by 9/30/24, which could require prior board approval.

Is it worth spending ESSER down to the final penny? Depends who you ask. Spending for the sake of spending can seem wasteful. Besides, isn’t $1,000 just a rounding error in a budget of millions?

Then again, try telling a kindergarten teacher that you sent the money back instead of replacing that dirty old circle-time rug that little Sophia threw up on last week. Or the PTA chair who spent countless hours getting the kids to sell chocolate to pay for honor roll prizes.

Here again, planning ahead can help. Maybe have a wishlist of supplies ready to go if there are "rounding errors."

SEAs: Don’t be shy. What we learned from ESSER 2 was that some districts could use more prodding. Newer leaders especially may not understand the deadlines. Charters are another group with high unspent balances. Kudos to SEAs in Oregon and Montana for their work getting everyone up to speed.

Start by taking stock of current spending. Most states post data on reimbursements, but a few could do better (ahem, PA, WV). Then, give some districts a call. Maybe start with those who haven’t sought reimbursements in a while.

Who knows, maybe they don’t want their ESSER. If not, there’s still time to redirect that money to a district that does.

Other stuff:

Our DC Certificate in Ed Finance cohort is full. If you’re still hoping to go, email Jordan.Tollefson@georgetown.edu and beg her to add you to the waitlist.

Or: Come to Seattle! 2 spots left in that cohort (Sept 11-12). Learn more and register here.

The Ed Finance Forecast: On the Education Exchange podcast, Marguerite talks about the changing financial landscape for districts and education markets.

QUIZ answers: All of the above. And all of the above.

Connect with us on X: @MargueriteRoza, @EdunomicsLab

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Edunomics Lab is a Georgetown University research center exploring and modeling complex education finance decisions to inform education policy and practice.

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