Approximately $55 million of federal funding will be allocated to education in Missouri, according to the state's education commissioner.
The money, available following the passage of the CARES Act, will be spent on expanding broadband and the creation of a tool assessing the impact of school closures on students, Maggie Vandeven, commissioner of the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education announced last week.
This funding was announced in the wake of sharp cuts to the state's overall education budget, both in the previous fiscal year and the one beginning July 1. In total, around $270 million has been cut since the start of the crisis by the onset of COVID-19.
Approximately $10 million will pay “for costs associated with increasing student connectivity and expanding campus WiFi networks for the coming school year.”
A further $10 millions will go towards an assessment tool to “gauge the level of learning loss or growth” and then to “develop strategies to accelerate learning” for those left behind, while $7.5 million is earmarked for transportation expenses linked to the delivery of food to children during the crisis, Vandeven said.
Under the CARES Act, a total of $208.4 million has been allocated for elementary and secondary education in Missouri, but it has to be spent on virus-related issues and not cover general under-funding.
“The impact of the coronavirus on school districts cannot be overstated," David Luther, director of communications with the Missouri Association of School Administrators, told the St. Louis Record.
"School leaders, like those in many other fields, are working hard to address myriad issues, most of which are tied in some manner or another to local and state funding (and to some extent federal funds).
"The budgets of school districts vary widely, so it is difficult to encapsulate the overall effect in general terms.”
The School Superintendents Association estimates the average school district will spend $1.8 million in COVID-19 costs alone to reopen. This will be much higher in the metropolitan areas, including St. Louis.
Overall, Missouri has received more than $2 billion in federal funding since the coronavirus outbreak. Approximately $610 million has been spent.
In a budget restriction announcement last week, Gov. Mike Parson said he was with holding $448 million, including $131 million from K-12 education.
“COVID-19 is unlike anything we have ever experienced before,” Governor Parson said. “As difficult as these decisions are, we are experiencing an unprecedented economic downturn, which means we are having to make unprecedented adjustments in our budget.”
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has threatened to with hold federal funding from schools that do not fully re-open in September. He criticized safety guidelines for schools laid down by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).