The Advocate September 2023: School District Spending of the American Rescue Plan Report
August 28, 2023
One of the pillars of AASA’s advocacy on behalf of superintendents is its commitment to always represent the views of the organization’s members no matter if they’re good, bad or ugly on Capitol Hill.
One of the easiest ways for our team to keep advocacy relevant and accurate is through survey work. Several times a year, we take the pulse of AASA members on a specific funding or policy matter of great significance on Capitol Hill. Earlier this summer, we issued the fourth installment of our survey on how districts are spending the greatest one-time federal funding investment in education history, otherwise knowns as the American Rescue Plan Act funds. In August, we published the School District Spending of American Rescue Plan which details and analyzes the survey responses detailing how school systems across the country are utilizing ARP funds in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This report detailed the consistency with which districts have prioritized adding instructional time and addressing whole-child needs as well as how superintendents are approaching the fiscal cliff in September 2024. We also hoped to demonstrate that ARP spending plans are not documents written in stone and district leaders are changing their spending decisions based on a variety of factors. Finally, we wanted to ascertain how districts are preparing for the spending cuts that will come in September 2024 and how they view the sustainability of this funding.
Here are some of our key findings from the report released last week:
- Since 2021, the top three immediate investments remained the same: increasing instructional time and opportunities and investing in high-quality curriculum materials tied for first with 59% of respondents selecting it. Fifty-eight percent selected adding specialist staff as a priority while 55% selected investing in teacher planning and professional development.
- Since 2021, the long-term priority list for district leaders has focused on expanding whole child supports, services and programs. Other long-term priority investments included renovating and rebuilding school facilities and engaging high school students.
- More than half of school district leaders are shifting their American Rescue Plan spending decisions due to higher-than-expected costs and inflation.
- Educator feedback and the need to further direct resources toward the social and emotional needs of students were cited by nearly half of district leaders as the source for realigning spending priorities and decisions. Nearly 40% of district leaders said feedback from parents led them to make changes to their ARP spending plans, while 29% said assessments of student performance, including test scores as well as delays in procuring materials and supplies, led to shifts in district ARP spending.
- Eighty-six percent of district leaders said sustainability was a top priority or they strongly considered sustainability when determining ARP expenditures.
- Fifty-three percent of district leaders indicated they would be forced to decrease staffing for specialist staff, such as behavioral health personnel, tutors and reading specialists, before the 2024-25 school year. Fifty-one percent indicated they would cut summer-learning programming.
- A third of superintendents surveyed believe that all students will be impacted equally in their communities by the discontinuation of ARP-funded instructional programs and supports in the 2024-25 school year, while a little more than a quarter said that students who are struggling academically will be impacted the most. A fifth of respondents highlighted how economically disadvantaged students will be the most impacted by the cuts in programming and staffing, while 14% said students with mental health needs will experience these funding cuts more acutely.
David R. Schuler, AASA executive director, had this to say about the survey findings: “We hope this report demonstrates how critical American Rescue Plan funds are and that district leaders are laser-focused in adding instructional time. Superintendents know best how to maximize the academic impact of the funding and are spending these resources wisely. However, there will be serious repercussions for students when these funds run out, which is why proposals to slash funding for the 2024-25 school year are simply unacceptable and risk deeply undermining the progress students are making academically.”
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