COVID RELATED ONE-TIME FUNDING

In response to the uncertainty created during the pandemic shutdowns, both the state and federal governments provided relief funds to districts.  Each type of relief fund has different allowable uses and allocation methodologies.  An overview of each is provided below.

Note that after the remaining claims in 2022-23, there are not likely to be significant one-time funding sources either at the state or federal level.

State Relief Funds

State Funds (Stabilization):  The State of Washington recognized that the unexpected decline in student enrollment due to COVID placed financial hardship on districts statewide, and in response approved "Enrollment Stabilization" and "Transportation Stabilization" funding.  The sum total of these funds are as follows:

• Enrollment Stabilization Funds:  $5.7M - Based on an approx 6.9% enrollment loss from pre-pandemic levels.

• Transportation Stabilization Funds:  $935k - These funds offset lower state transportation funding, which is based upon ridership.  The 2022-23 amount is based upon the additional cost of transporting Special Education riders.

• Levy Stabilization:  $$1.2M - These funds offset the lower level of state equalization (redistribution of taxes) based on enrollment change and beginning in 2022-23, based on the significant increase in assessed value of property in the Camas School District boundaries.

• Total:  $8.5M

Federal Relief Funds

Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief" (ESSER) Funds:  The Federal government has responded to the pandemic through a series of relief/stimulus bills which include the CARES Act, CRRSA Act, and most recently the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).  Contained within these acts are K-12 relief funds are known as ESSER funding (ESSER Phase I, II, & III, corresponding to each relief act).  

ESSER funds are provided by the federal government to the states, which hold back a small percentage and disseminate the remainder to each district.  Camas' allocation across all three relief acts is:

• ESSER I:  $333k (claimed in 2019-20)

• ESSER II:  $672k (claimed in 2020-21)

• ESSER III:  $1.5M (claims ongoing through 2024, approximately $500k annually)

For a full breakdown of ESSER Claims by district, including Camas, click here (page maintained by OSPI)

Program-specific funding outlined under ESSER legislation (while technically ESSER funding, these were issued with more specific uses and grant requirements, so are managed by their more specific grant titles)

• ALE/Summer School Grant:  $140,000 (2021-22) to fund learning recovery programs, focused on summer school staffing.  Will be $200,000 for 2023 Summer School

• Learn to Return:  $250,000 awarded to support COVID testing, tracing, and other COVID recovery efforts, focused on staffing costs.

• SPED ARP:  $333,388 - specifically designated to support Special Education programs.

• Supply Chain Assistance:  $320,000 - helps to offset costs associated with supply chain disruption in the food service program due to COVID.

ESSER Funds Apportionment

ESSER funds are federal monies, distributed through the state.  States must distribute these funds using the Federal Title I methodology, which is based upon the district's percentage of low-income students, rather than using a methodology tied to actual enrollment loss. Due to this unfavorable ESSER allocation methodology, Camas received by far the lowest per student COVID relief in Clark County.    In recognition of this, the state approved the $1.1M addition of "Per-Student Stabilization" funds mentioned above.

Summary of ESSER Phases

Below is a more detailed summary of each ESSER Phase.

Phase I:  ESSER funds under CARES Act (relief bill passed Mar 27, 2020) - $333,095

WA state was allocated $216M in federal relief, $195M of which was sub-awarded to school districts.  From there, it was distributed based on the "Title I" methodology, which relies on low income student percentages to determine funds eligibility. This reduced the relative availability of funds for Camas given the overall student demographic.  Camas received $46/student, which was significantly less than other Clark County districts.

CSD acted early in the claim process.  Camas applied for and received $333,095 in CARES act funding, posted to our accounts in August 2020.  It therefore shows up in 2019-2020 vice 2020-21 revenues.  Districts were either able to claim money based on COVID expenses, or based on lost revenue due to COVID.  Because our distribution was low relative to other districts (per Title I distribution), Camas chose to claim all of the money in lost revenue (i.e. we had enough lost revenue to cover the full allocation).  You can see the lost revenue breakdown on the chart above.

 Phase II:  ESSER funds under the Coronavirus and Relief Supplemental Appropriations (CRRSA) Act (relief bill passes Dec 27, 2020) - $671,767

Camas was allocated $672k in ESSER II funds, which was claimed in 2020-21 and used for COVID-related expenses, primarily Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and some personnel costs in the form of additional staffing to support COVID requirements and online curriculum.

Phase III:  ESSER funds under the American Rescue Plan Act (passed 11 Mar, 2021) - $1,509,000

ESSER III funds will be claimed by Camas primarily to offset salaries and benefits utilized to support learning loss and basic educational activities related to teaching in a COVID environment.  At least 20% of these funds must be claimed against "learning loss" mitigation, which will initially consist of summer school programs.  Approximately $87k of these funds were claimed against the 20% requirement (summer school) in 2021-22, and the remainder will be spread across FY's through 2024.

ESSER Reporting Compliance

One of the federal requirements of districts accepting ARP-ESSER grants (ESSER III) is to create a plan that outlines how the funds will be used and post this plan on their website (see the federal requirement on page 7 of the Interim Final Requirements (IFR) for ARP ESSER in the Federal Register).   To comply with this requirement, districts may post their grant applications.  

Camas has two grant applications which cover the total $1.5M ESSER III award.

• Grant 153 - ESSER III 20% Learning Loss - ESSER III requires that at least 20% of the broader ESSER III funds must be utilized to address learning loss as a result of COVID (in the chart above this is shows as (20% Learning Loss).

• Grant 159 - ESSER III 80% - This is the remaining 80% of the funds.