COVID Stimulus

Some districts used pandemic aid to shore up their budgets amid enrollment declines. They’ll no longer have that option late next year.
The virtual tutoring can vary from school to school, and can be used to fill vacant positions, offer academic interventions, or provide SAT prep.
Some principals say the program is paying off and want to find funding to keep it going.
Here’s what we know: high-poverty schools face a bigger cliff, that more federal money won’t be forthcoming, and that school budgets will be shaped both by districts’ own financial decisions and those made by state politicians.
The inspector general found they fraudulently got federal loans during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
The move by Las Vegas and Tampa area schools follows scrutiny of the company’s practices.
The loss of extra programming — like after-school tutoring, smaller class sizes, additional staff — could make learning loss recovery even more challenging.
Detroit Public Schools Community District focused on one-time items that would help students get back in the classroom, and address infrastructure needs.
Teachers can apply for grants up to $1,000 for supplies that will help students recover from disrupted learning.
Dolton-Riverdale, a high-poverty elementary district, is installing touch screens, cameras, and other technology to make hybrid learning easier.
The first Indiana school districts head back to school this week amid a spate of new laws and policies that will affect what happens in the classroom.
As parents, what questions should you be asking about tutoring and whether your student can benefit? Here are some tips and insights from experts.
The latest round of benefits is intended to help families cover summer meal costs.
Paper tutors often juggle multiple students at once and are pushed to work on subjects they don’t know, records and interviews show.
The budget will allocate roughly $4.8 billion directly to schools. District officials say more money will go to bilingual education and staffing positions that work with students with disabilities.
The end of federal COVID relief aid prompts belt-tightening to account for declining enrollment, but Vitti says few employees will actually face forced layoffs.
The summer programs helped keep some students engaged, Superintendent Nikolai Vitti says, but they were not nearly as successful as officials hoped.
With just a month until the school year ends, families are scrambling to find alternate summer programs for their children.
The decision to start the new school year with steady budgets, however, doesn’t mean schools are completely immune from cuts.
There’s a growing consensus that schools should schedule intensive tutoring during the school day and lean on computer programs to reach more students.
Students’ struggle to recover from pre-pandemic disruptions is also a cause for concern, the new report says.
‘We know that food insecurity prior to the pandemic was a major problem in New York City,’ one advocate said. ‘It’s only gotten exponentially worse since the pandemic, so any ongoing support is really essential.’
Two-thirds of that cut, or about $650 million, is the result of Adams’ decision to reduce the city’s contribution to the education department.
Five states will work to identify tutoring providers with proven track records and help districts set up schedules that allow for more tutoring.
While some educators and parents have been skeptical of the virtual setup, many have since been won over.
Indiana administrative code recommends a ratio of one registered nurse for every 750 students. Many school districts, however, can’t meet that ratio.
In its third year, the program will again have 110,000 spots and will be open to any child in New York City — but there are a couple changes to the application process.
The education department’s spending per pupil has increased by 46%, in large part due to the billions in federal COVID aid the district received as enrollment has dipped.
In the Detroit Public Schools Community District, officials are directing more than half of their COVID funds to fix buildings that are in disrepair.
Icon-heart-donate
If you value Chalkbeat, consider making a donation
Chalkbeat is a nonprofit newsroom dedicated to providing the information families and educators need, but this kind of work isn’t possible without your help.