CLEVELAND — At nearly $2 trillion, the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) that was signed into law last year has provided cities and school districts with an unprecedented, one-time infusion of federal funding. Collectively, schools across Northeast Ohio received nearly $1 billion. As for how districts have opted to spend their outlays, it has largely been dependent upon each district’s unique needs.
Signed into law roughly a year after the CARES Act provided $2 trillion in federal funding, the American Rescue Plan’s broad goal was to be a financial kick-start for school districts, communities and families. Although the federal government provided a framework for how the money should be spent, the stimulus package did not have the usual strings attached to it.
For school districts, the money was allocated based on total enrollment and the district’s number of students from low-income families. Districts in large metropolitan and urban areas received a bulk of the funding. Akron Public Schools received $96 million. Cleveland Metropolitan School District received $293 million and Canton City Schools received just over $60 million.
Jeffery Talbert, the superintendent of Canton City schools, joined the district during the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic and has guided the district in how to best spend its federal outlay. Talbert said the district has adopted a philosophy of spending the ARPA funding in accordance with its mission statement.
“What else can we do that will create lasting support for our students longer, after these dollars go away? We looked at some of our facilities and said, ‘where did we struggle?’” Talbert said. “How do we take this bad time and take this and not only use this as something we had to get over but also use it as something that completely changes how we do business in the Canton City School District?”
In addition to using its ARPA allocation for mitigating the spread of COVID-19, the school district has also used its funding to offer and expand its educational and student support offerings. As part of one unique program, the district brought a group of students in to help make up school credits while also partnering with the city of Canton in order to provide those students with summer jobs.
Approximately 20% of the district’s ARPA funding will be used to finance two critically-needed expansion projects at its two intermediary schools: Crenshaw Middle School and the STEAMM Academy at Hartford.
“Both of those projects have community spaces built in, helping us to live our values,” Talbert said. “It will help us be able to support what we see is bringing in the support agencies so they are right there in the schools and our kids can access them.”
At Crenshaw, the district has plans to construct a 15,000-square-foot gymnasium near the northeast corner of the school, which will complement the soon-to-be-complete addition at the school that will house career and technical education classes. The construction of the new gym will include a full-size basketball court, a locker room that can be used as meeting rooms and storage spaces, as well as an indoor walking track. A new lobby area would also be constructed, which would allow the administrative offices to be relocated.
The former school office area would then be converted into a family resource center where community organizations can better connect with families in need of services. This community space is sorely needed, said assistant superintendent Jason Dixon.
“Parents and students can access healthcare, dentistry, mental health services, all that, so it can become a one-stop-shop community center,” Dixon said. “Crenshaw Middle School is our only 7th and 8th-grade building here that houses the majority of our 7th and 8th graders in the district. The STEAMM Academy went from a middle school model to now 4th through 8th grades. We quickly identified that we needed to expand some space there too.”
The STEAMM Academy at Hartford will also receive a new multi-purpose gym that will be built on the football field adjacent to the main school building. A mezzanine level will also be constructed, which will be used for classroom and additional community space. To help buttress the campus’ offerings in the fields of science, technology and agriculture, the district will also build a pond, crop fields and an eco-lab.
“This will help not only further educate our students in our community,” Dixon said. “For us, any hands-on activity, especially as a middle school student, that we can do outside and we can get learning in the environment itself, we think is a win-win.”
In addition to a new bus garage, the two school additions, which should have groundbreakings later this fall, account for about $11 million of the district’s ARPA funding.
“You have to be very careful when you get the one-time dollars and not to invest in things that are going to cause costs that will be recurring long after the money is gone,” Talbert said.
The potential for a ‘financial cliff’ as well as the requirement that money be spent by September 2024 represents some of the challenges that school administrators have had to navigate when determining how to best use the ARPA funding.
“We have to continue to respond to the direct impact of COVID. We have to help kids and adults with the near-term recovery coming out of the pandemic and we would be irresponsible if we didn’t use these resources to position the district for the future as well,” said Eric Gordon, the chief executive of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. “It’s a tremendous opportunity for districts across the country and particularly for us in Cleveland. I do say there is some advocacy work to do to extend the length of spend time. We don’t want to spend just for the spend’s sake.”
Gordon said the pandemic’s resurgence last year forced districts to re-examine their ARPA expenditures. Because 2021 provided little opportunity to actually recover from the pandemic, Gordon is hoping the federal government extends the deadline to spend ARPA funding.
“There is, I think, a good case to be made that extending the timeline, which the federal government can do, will result in better decisions not just from my district — but all districts,” Gordon said. “I’m advocating for no new money but the same money for a longer time so we really can use this money in the best possible way. I am fearful that, if not, you could see some districts trying to spend just for spend’s sake. That’s not a good use of our federal tax dollars.”
As for how CMSD opted to allocate its $239 million in ARPA funding, Gordon said it generally falls into three categories: ongoing response to the direct impact of the pandemic, including PPE, HVAC upgrades, etc; short-term recovery initiatives, including expanded educational programs to help students ‘catch up’ after pandemic-related disruptions, as well as plans for the future, including a complete modernization of the district’s curriculum.
“We’re going to be expanding live, 24/7 tutoring this year where you can sign onto a Zoom… and access a tutor so that there is extended support for students and families,” Gordon said. “We’re really excited to continue expanding opportunities for kids and educators both. We’re really working to make sure that everybody is settling into a much stronger year from an attendance perspective and from a behavioral health perspective so that we can really focus on the things that make school fun.”
Gordon said the upcoming school year will feature a litany of new and expanded programs in order to help students recover from pandemic-related disruptions. In addition to expanding art, music and physical education programs, school days for pre-K through 8th-grade students will be expanded through the district's ‘Zero and Nine’ program. The addition of a zero period or 9th period will create more access to art, music and physical education while also carving out more time in the school day for reading, writing and math instruction.
Health professionals have also been placed in every school building, which is an improvement over the pre-pandemic staffing of one health professional covering multiple schools. Additionally, the district will continue to provide a 1:1 ratio of students to computer devices. Mobile hotspots will also be available for students without a dedicated internet connection at home.
“This is the first time in my 31-year career that we have had such a large pool of money to consider those upfront investments in. That’s why in addition to the COVID recovery we also have to position for the future. We will never have a chance like this again,” Gordon said. “I hope we will have not just recovered from the pandemic but we will have positioned school systems like mine and others for a vastly improved educational experience for kids.”
Click here to view ARPA allocations for all Ohio districts, or view the list below:
