K-12 Education: School Districts Reported Spending Initial COVID Relief Funds on Meeting Students' Needs and Continuing School Operations
Summary
GAO-24-106913, a U.S. Government Accountability Office report to the Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, dated September 2024, on how school districts spent Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds. GAO reports that Congress appropriated nearly $190 billion in ESSER funds and that districts nationally reported spending nearly $60 billion through school year 2021-22. About 80 percent of that spending went to students' academic, social and emotional needs and continuing school operations, and the remaining 20 percent to physical and mental health concerns. GAO also visited 17 school districts in California, Florida, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania and Texas to examine spending priorities, how districts gauge effects, and planning for the end of ESSER funding.
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“K-12 Education: School Districts Reported Spending Initial COVID Relief Funds on Meeting Students' Needs and Continuing School Operations.”
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K12 EDUCATION
School Districts Reported
Spending Initial COVID Relief
Funds on Meeting Students'
Needs and Continuing School
Operations
Report to the Ranking Member Committee on Health,
Education, Labor and Pensions, U.S. Senate
September 2024
GAO-24-106913
United States Government Accountability Office
Accessible Version
GAO Highlights
View GAO-24-106913. For more information, contact Jacqueline M. Nowicki at (202) 512-7215 or nowickij@gao.gov.
Highlights of GAO-24-106913, a report to the Ranking Member, Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, U.S. Senate
September 2024
K-12 EDUCATION
School Districts Reported Spending Initial COVID Relief Funds on Meeting
Students’ Needs and Continuing School Operations
Why GAO Did This Study
The COVID-19 pandemic caused widespread closures and disruption for K-12 schools nationwide. To help address
issues related to COVID-19, Congress appropriated nearly $190 billion in ESSER funds, the vast majority of which
went to school districts. School districts could generally use ESSER funds for a broad range of purposes designed
to prevent, prepare for, or respond to the pandemic (e.g., addressing learning loss or facilitating a safe return to in-
person instruction).
GAO was asked to review how school districts used their ESSER funds. This report addresses (1) how the nation’s
school districts spent ESSER funds, (2) factors selected districts considered when prioritizing spending, and (3) how
selected districts gauge the effects of their spending and how they are planning for the end of ESSER funding.
GAO analyzed Education’s ESSER spending data for school years 2020–21 and 2021–22 (most recent data
available) nationally and by district characteristics. GAO also conducted site visits to 17 school districts across
California, Florida, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas to provide illustrative examples of state and
district decision-making regarding ESSER spending. These six states collectively received more than 40 percent of
all ESSER funds. GAO selected school districts for variety in urbanicity, enrollment, total ESSER funds received,
and student demographics. GAO also reviewed relevant reports from and conducted interviews with Education and
national organizations actively monitoring ESSER spending.
What GAO Found
School districts nationally reported spending a combined total of nearly $60 billion in Elementary and Secondary
School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds through school year 2021–22, according to GAO’s analysis of the
Department of Education’s (Education) data. About 80 percent of ESSER spending through school year 2021–22
went to addressing students’ academic, social, and emotional needs and continuing school operations. For
example, most of the districts GAO visited added instructional time and many purchased new curricula. The
remaining 20 percent went to addressing physical and mental health concerns, including purchasing cleaning
supplies, improving ventilation, and hiring school psychologists.
School Districts’ Reported Use of K-12 COVID Relief Funds for Activities to Maintain Safe, In-Person Instruction, School Year
2021–22
Accessible Data for School Districts’ Reported Use of K-12 COVID Relief Funds for Activities to Maintain Safe, In-Person
Instruction, School Year 2021–22
Category Percentage of school districts
Cleaning and disinfection 67.1%
Physical distancing (six feet apart) 51.7%
Ventilation 46.2%
Source: GAO analysis of Department of Education data; Adobe Stock (icons). | GAO-24-106913
Note: Percentages do not add to 100 percent because school districts could use funds for multiple activities.
Multiple national, state, and district level factors influenced ESSER spending decisions in the 17 school districts
across six states GAO visited. For example, the amount of ESSER funds received was a key factor in prioritizing
spending for these districts. For some, that meant being able to take care of basic needs while avoiding funding
deficits. For others, it meant moving beyond basic needs to making capital improvements or implementing new
activities. State officials described their processes for screening and approving districts’ proposed uses of ESSER
funds. They said they approved proposed activities that demonstrated clear linkage to COVID-related issues. States
sometimes differed on what activities they considered allowable under ESSER. Ten of the districts relied on a
specific philosophy to guide and prioritize their ESSER spending. For example, one district developed broad
pandemic-related goals such as addressing learning loss and ensuring a safe return to school.
Officials from 16 districts said they used various data to examine ESSER-funded activities. However, pinpointing the
effectiveness of any one individual activity may be difficult because, for example, districts initiated multiple activities
during the pandemic. Further, not enough time has passed to know if any initial positive effects will remain long-
term. Most district officials also said they began making decisions about whether to sustain, scale, or sunset
ESSER-funded activities well before the funding ended. Factors included program results and access to other
sources of funding. State officials said they also encouraged school districts to avoid spending that could not be
sustained after ESSER funds ended.
Contents
GAO Highlights ii
Why GAO Did This Study ii
What GAO Found ii
Letter 1
Background 3
School Districts Initially Spent ESSER Funds Primarily to Meet Students’ Academic, Social, and Emotional
Needs and Continue School Operations 5
Selected School Districts Balanced National, State, and District Considerations When Prioritizing ESSER
Spending 13
Selected School Districts Used Various Data to Examine Effects of ESSER Spending and Plan for the
Future 17
Agency Comments 21
Appendix I School Districts Included in Analysis of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief
Fund Reported Spending 22
Appendix II State Data on Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund Spending through
School Year 2021–22 24
Appendix III GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments 26
GAO Contact 26
Staff Acknowledgments 26
Tables
Table 1: Overview of the Three Rounds of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER)
Funding 4
Table 2: Common Core of Data (CCD) Variables Used to Analyze Elementary and Secondary School
Emergency Relief (ESSER) Data by School District Characteristics 22
Table 3: Characteristics of School Districts Selected for Nongeneralizable Site Visits 23
Table 4: Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund Reported Spending by Category and
State through School Year 2021–22 24
Figures
School Districts’ Reported Use of K-12 COVID Relief Funds for Activities to Maintain Safe, In-Person
Instruction, School Year 2021–22 iii
Accessible Data for School Districts’ Reported Use of K-12 COVID Relief Funds for Activities to Maintain
Safe, In-Person Instruction, School Year 2021–22 iii
Page i GAO-24-106913 K-12 COVID-19 Relief Spending
Figure 1: School District Reported Spending of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds
through School Year 2021–22 6
Accessible Data for Figure 1: School District Reported Spending of Elementary and Secondary School
Emergency Relief Funds through School Year 2021–22 6
Figure 2: School District Planned Usage of Unspent Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief
Funds as of School Year 2021–22 7
Accessible Data for Figure 2: School District Planned Usage of Unspent Elementary and Secondary School
Emergency Relief Funds as of School Year 2021–22 7
Figure 3: School Districts’ Reported Spending of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief
Funds for Activities to Maintain Safe, In-Person Instruction in School Year 2021–22 9
Accessible Data for Figure 3: School Districts’ Reported Spending of Elementary and Secondary School
Emergency Relief Funds for Activities to Maintain Safe, In-Person Instruction in School Year 2021–22 9
Figure 4: Rooftop Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning Units Purchased with Elementary and
Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds 10
Accessible Text for Figure 4: Rooftop Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning Units Purchased with
Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds 10
Figure 5: “Reset Center” to Help Students Manage Behavior, Staffed and Furnished Using Elementary and
Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds 11
Accessible Text for Figure 5: “Reset Center” to Help Students Manage Behavior, Staffed and Furnished
Using Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds 12
Figure 6: School District Reported Spending of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds
by Subcategory through School Year 2021–22 12
Accessible Data for Figure 6: School District Reported Spending of Elementary and Secondary School
Emergency Relief Funds by Subcategory through School Year 2021–22 12
Figure 7: Bulletin Board Tracking Student Performance Using a New Assessment Funded with Elementary
and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds 17
Accessible Text for Figure 7: Bulletin Board Tracking Student Performance Using a New Assessment
Funded with Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds 17
Abbreviations
ARP American Rescue Plan Act of 2021
ARRA American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
of 2009
CCD Common Core of Data
Education Department of Education
ESSER Elementary and Secondary School
Emergency Relief
FRPL free or reduced-price lunch
HVAC heating, ventilation, and air conditioning
PPE personal protective equipment
Page ii GAO-24-106913 K-12 COVID-19 Relief Spending
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Page iii GAO-24-106913 K-12 COVID-19 Relief Spending
441 G St. N.W.
Letter
Washington, DC 20548
September 23, 2024
The Honorable Bill Cassidy, M.D.
Ranking Member
Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
United States Senate
Dear Dr. Cassidy,
The COVID-19 pandemic caused widespread closures and disruption for K-12 schools. Both staff and students
struggled to adapt to changing safety requirements and remote learning environments.1 Even as schools
returned to in-person instruction, schools and students continued to contend with an array of physical and
mental health challenges brought on or exacerbated by the pandemic. Academic, social, and health challenges
persist as school districts across the nation continue to adapt to the post-pandemic landscape of K-12
education. For example, chronic absenteeism nearly doubled during the pandemic with 14 million students
missing valuable instructional time in school year 2021–22, according to the Department of Education
(Education).
To help states and school districts address issues related to COVID-19, Congress created the Elementary and
Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund in March 2020.2 Through three laws, Congress
appropriated nearly $190 billion in ESSER funds, the vast majority of which have gone to local school districts.3
States and school districts had to obligate the last round of ESSER funds by September 30, 2024.4
You asked us to review how school districts used their ESSER funds. This report addresses (1) how the
nation’s school districts spent ESSER funds, (2) the factors selected school districts considered when
prioritizing ESSER spending, and (3) how selected school districts gauge the effects of their ESSER spending
and how they are planning for when ESSER funding ends.
1See our series of reports on pandemic learning loss: GAO, Pandemic Learning: As Students Struggled to Learn, Teachers Reported
Few Strategies as Particularly Helpful to Mitigate Learning Loss, GAO-22-104487 (Washington, D.C.: May 10, 2022); Pandemic
Learning: Teachers Reported Many Obstacles for High-Poverty Students and English Learners As Well As Some Mitigating Strategies,
GAO-22-105815 (Washington, D.C.: May 31, 2022); and Pandemic Learning: Less Academic Progress Overall, Student and Teacher
Strain, and Implications for the Future, GAO-22-105816 (Washington, D.C.: June 8, 2022).
2CARES Act, Pub. L. No. 116-136, § 18003, 134 Stat. 281, 565-67 (2020).
3In addition to the CARES Act, funds were appropriated under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 and the American Rescue
Plan Act of 2021. Pub. L. No. 116-260, div. M, tit. III, § 313, 134 Stat. 1182, 1929-32 and Pub. L. No. 117-2, § 2001, 135 Stat. 4, 19-23.
4This is the obligation deadline for Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds appropriated under the
American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. The obligation deadlines for ESSER funds appropriated under the CARES Act and Consolidated
Appropriations Act, 2021 were September 30, 2022 and September 30, 2023, respectively.
Page 1 GAO-24-106913 K-12 COVID-19 Relief Spending
Letter
To examine how school districts spent their ESSER funds, we analyzed Education’s data from its ESSER
Annual Performance Reports (ESSER data) for school years 2020–21 and 2021–22.5 These data were the
most recent available at the time of our analysis and the only national dataset on ESSER reported spending.6
We analyzed ESSER data using the four high-level reporting categories that Education developed to track
school district ESSER spending:
1. Addressing Physical Health and Safety (e.g., cleaning supplies);
2. Meeting Students’ Academic, Social, Emotional, and Other Needs (e.g., tutoring)7;
3. Mental Health Supports for Students and Staff (e.g., hiring school psychologists); and
4. Operational Continuity and Other Allowed Uses (e.g., paying staff during school closures).
We also analyzed ESSER data using Education’s nine subcategories (e.g., salaries, benefits, supplies)—used
to further categorize school district ESSER spending—and other relevant variables, such as whether school
districts used any ESSER funds to maintain safe, in-person instruction.
We matched Education’s ESSER data to its Common Core of Data (CCD) to analyze spending by school
district characteristics.8 We successfully matched more than 99 percent of districts.9 We determined
Education’s ESSER data and CCD data were sufficiently reliable for analyzing ESSER reported spending by
reviewing relevant documentation; interviewing knowledgeable Education officials; and testing the data for
outliers, missing data, and other errors.
To gather information for all three objectives, we conducted site visits with six states to provide illustrative
examples of ESSER spending. We selected California, Florida, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas
for site visits because, collectively, these states received more than 40 percent of all ESSER funds. We asked
state officials about what guidance they provided to districts about using ESSER funds, their oversight of
districts’ ESSER spending, the uses of funds they considered allowable, and how districts across their states
used funds.
Within those six states, we interviewed officials from 17 school districts, selected for variety in urbanicity,
enrollment, total ESSER funds received, and student demographics. Collectively, these districts received
5The Department of Education (Education) collected ESSER data by state fiscal year. According to Education, 47 states reported
ESSER data based on state fiscal years ending on June 30th. Because nearly all states reported data ending on June 30th, which
corresponded to the end of the school year, we report ESSER data by school year, rather than fiscal year. Education collected some
data on ESSER spending in school year 2019–20 during the first few months of the pandemic. We excluded those data from our
analysis because, according to Education, they differed significantly from subsequent years.
6Throughout this report, “ESSER spending” refers to expenditures (i.e., outlays), unless otherwise noted.
7This category excluded mental health supports.
8The Common Core of Data is Education’s comprehensive, national database of all K-12 public schools and school districts. Education
updates the database annually. See app. I for the school district characteristics included in our analyses.
9To match school districts, we first used the National Center for Education Statistics identifier that was present in both datasets. We
then used two other identifiers (the Unique Entity ID and the DUNS number) to match additional districts. We manually matched the
remaining districts using publicly available information. An independent analyst verified the matches. There were 13 school districts that
we could not match across datasets; we excluded these school districts from our analysis of ESSER spending by school district
characteristics.
Page 2 GAO-24-106913 K-12 COVID-19 Relief Spending
Letter
approximately $17.5 billion in ESSER funds. We asked district officials about how they used ESSER funds,
why they prioritized funds for those purposes, how they were examining the outcomes of ESSER spending,
and their plans for after ESSER funds ended. We met with officials from 12 districts virtually and five districts
in-person. We toured 14 sites during in-person visits, typically schools, to observe how districts had used
ESSER funds.
To complement our data analysis and site visits, we reviewed relevant reports from and conducted interviews
with Education as well as national organizations that have been active in monitoring ESSER spending.
We conducted this performance audit from June 2023 to September 2024 in accordance with generally
accepted government auditing standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain
sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our
audit objectives. We believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and
conclusions based on our audit objectives.
Background
Congress created ESSER in March 2020 to help states and school districts address the challenges brought on
by the COVID-19 pandemic. Through three COVID-19 relief laws, Congress appropriated nearly $190 billion in
ESSER funds (see table 1). States are the primary ESSER recipients. These COVID relief laws required states
to allocate at least 90 percent of their ESSER funds to school districts. States could reserve up to 10 percent
for certain expenses, such as emergency needs.10
10This report focuses on ESSER funds provided to school districts rather than the state reserves.
Page 3 GAO-24-106913 K-12 COVID-19 Relief Spending
Letter
Table 1: Overview of the Three Rounds of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Funding
Legislation Enacted Fund name Total amount Mandatory amount Obligation
to districts deadline
CARES Acta March 2020 ESSER I $13.2 billion At least $11.9 billion 9/30/2022
Consolidated December 2020 ESSER II $54.3 billion At least $48.9 billion 9/30/2023
Appropriations
Act, 2021b
American Rescue March 2021 ARP ESSER $121.9 billiond At least $109.7 9/30/2024
Plan Act of 2021c billion
Source: GAO review of COVID-19 relief laws and agency guidance. | GAO-24-106913
a
Pub. L. No. 116-136, § 18003, 134 Stat. 281, 565-67 (2020).
b
Pub. L. No. 116-260, div. M, tit. III, § 313, 134 Stat. 1182, 1929-32.
c
Pub. L. No. 117-2, § 2001, 135 Stat. 4, 19-23.
d
In addition to this $121.9 billion, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 included $800 million in ESSER funds for the Department of Education to
identify and assist homeless children and youth.
Each round of ESSER funding included an obligation deadline, with a final deadline of September 30, 2024, for
funding under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP ESSER).11 The funds also have a spending (i.e.,
liquidation) deadline, which is generally 120 days after the obligation deadline. States could request extensions
to the liquidation deadline from Education on behalf of school districts in the state. According to Education, the
department approved every request it received from states for extensions for ESSER I and ESSER II.
Education also provided a template for states and school districts to request ARP ESSER extensions.
The relevant COVID relief laws allocated ESSER funds to states based on their proportion of funds received
under Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended, for fiscal year 2019
(for ESSER I) or 2020 (for ESSER II and ARP ESSER).12 The amount of funds states were to provide to school
districts (including charter schools that operate as school districts) were calculated the same way.
Allowable Uses of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Funds
According to Education’s guidance, school districts could use ESSER funds to support a wide variety of activities, including:
· Coordinating efforts to prevent, prepare for, and respond to COVID-19.
· Planning, coordinating, and implementing activities during long-term closures, such as providing meals to eligible students.
· Implementing protocols to maintain health and safety when reopening schools.
· Addressing the unique needs of students with disabilities, English learners, low-income students, racial and ethnic minorities, students
experiencing homelessness, or students in foster care.
· Purchasing educational technology.
· Planning and implementing summer learning and enrichment activities and afterschool programs.
· Addressing the academic impact of lost instructional time.
· Providing mental health services.
· Repairing and improving facilities to reduce virus transmission and exposure to environmental health hazards.
Source: Department of Education (Education) guidance. | GAO-24-106913
11This includes the Tydings Amendment period, which refers to a provision of the General Education Provisions Act that allows
educational agencies or institutions an additional 12 months to obligate any funds that were not obligated at the end of the first 12
months. See 20 U.S.C. § 1225(b).
12Title I, Part A funds are allocated based primarily on U.S. Census Bureau poverty estimates. Based on the allocation criteria, some
school districts did not receive any ESSER funds through the mandatory subgrants to school districts.
Page 4 GAO-24-106913 K-12 COVID-19 Relief Spending
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School districts could generally use ESSER funds for a broad range of purposes designed to prevent, prepare
for, and respond to the pandemic (see sidebar). While all ESSER funds could be used to respond to pandemic-
related challenges, ARP ESSER included several new provisions to address pandemic learning loss and the
return to in-person learning. For example:
· Addressing Learning Loss. School districts were required to reserve at least 20 percent of their ARP
ESSER funds to address learning loss by implementing evidence-based interventions, such as summer
learning, extended day, comprehensive afterschool programs, or extended school year programs. School
districts also had to ensure that such interventions responded to students’ academic, social, and emotional
needs and addressed the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on certain student subgroups.
· Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services. School districts that received ARP
ESSER funds were required to develop—and make publicly available on their websites—a plan for the safe
return to in-person instruction and continuity of services within 30 days after receiving their ARP ESSER
allocation.
Education oversees state educational agencies’ implementation of ESSER; state educational agencies monitor
and oversee school district ESSER spending. To help states and school districts implement ESSER, Education
provided guidance on the use of ESSER funds, including a series of FAQ documents. In its guidance,
Education encouraged school districts to use funds to safely reopen schools, maximize in-person instructional
time for all students, and address the impacts of lost instructional time resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Education also encouraged districts to consider using funds to address inequities, including by focusing
supports and services on students disproportionately affected by the pandemic.
Education also provided guidance on reporting on ESSER spending, including webinars and user guides. Data
on ESSER spending are publicly available on Education’s website.13
School Districts Initially Spent ESSER Funds Primarily to Meet
Students’ Academic, Social, and Emotional Needs and Continue School
Operations
School districts reported spending about $57.3 billion in ESSER funds through school year 2021–22, primarily
to address students’ academic, social, and emotional needs and continue school operations, according to our
analysis of Education’s ESSER data.14 This total was just under the combined amount of the ESSER I and
ESSER II subgrants to districts.15 About 80 percent went to addressing students’ academic, social, and
13See https://covid-relief-data.ed.gov/.
14Our analysis reflects school district decisions about how to categorize their ESSER spending. Education provided examples of
ESSER-funded activities to include under each category. To calculate total spending, we separately analyzed Education data for school
years 2020–21 and 2021–22 and combined the results. This allowed us to analyze ESSER spending by categories and subcategories.
Another way to calculate total spending is to only use data from Education’s dataset for school year 2021–22, since it includes
cumulative spending. However, those data cannot be broken out into categories and subcategories, which was the goal of our analysis.
Calculating total spending by the latter method results in a total of $58.3 billion in ESSER spending through school year 2021–22,
according to Education officials.
15The $57.3 billion in ESSER spending through school year 2021–22 includes ESSER I, ESSER II, and ARP ESSER funds. Districts
received no less than $60.8 billion in mandatory subgrants, collectively, from ESSER I and ESSER II.
Page 5 GAO-24-106913 K-12 COVID-19 Relief Spending
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emotional needs and continuing school operations, while approximately 20 percent went to addressing
physical health and safety and mental health supports for students and staff (see fig. 1).16
Figure 1: School District Reported Spending of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds through School
Year 2021–22
Accessible Data for Figure 1: School District Reported Spending of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief
Funds through School Year 2021–22
Category Percentage Dollars in billions
Mental health supports for 3 1.7
students and staff
Addressing physical health 15.8 9.1
and safety
Operational continuity and 33.6 19.2
other allowed uses
Meeting students’ academic, 47.7 27.3
social, emotional, and other
needs
Source: GAO analysis of Department of Education data. | GAO-24-106913
Note: Percentages in this figure do not add to 100 percent due to rounding.
As of school year 2021–22, school districts reported having a plan for using about 90 percent of remaining
ESSER funds—about $100 billion—according to our analysis of Education’s data (see fig. 2).
16For state-level ESSER spending data, see app. II.
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Figure 2: School District Planned Usage of Unspent Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds as of School
Year 2021–22
Accessible Data for Figure 2: School District Planned Usage of Unspent Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief
Funds as of School Year 2021–22
Category Percentage Dollars in billions
Mental health supports for students and staff 5.2 5.7
Not yet determined 10.2 11.2
Addressing physical health and safety 15.5 17.1
Operational continuity and other allowed uses 24.5 27.1
Meeting students’ academic, social, emotional, 44.7 49.3
and other needs
Source: GAO analysis of Department of Education data. | GAO-24-106913
Note: Percentages in this figure do not add to 100 percent due to rounding.
Meeting students’ academic, social, emotional, and other needs. According to Education’s guidance,
activities that fell into this category included afterschool programming, summer learning, tutoring, academic
assessments, and purchasing instructional materials.
School districts we interviewed described using ESSER funds for each of these activities and more. For
example, officials from 15 of the 17 school districts we spoke with said they used ESSER funds to add
instructional time through afterschool programming, summer school programming, or extending the school
year; 10 said they purchased new curricula for the district; and 11 said they used ESSER funds for teacher
training or professional development. Five districts described ESSER-funded activities where they elevated the
highest-performing teachers in the district into new roles where they worked with the highest-need students or
trained other teachers on effective instructional practices.
Page 7 GAO-24-106913 K-12 COVID-19 Relief Spending
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This spending category also included technology purchases such as hardware and software, as well as
devices to help students connect to the internet. In the first full year of the pandemic, more than one-third of
school districts nationally reported using ESSER funds to purchase mobile hotspots with data plans. In
addition, officials from 14 of the 17 school districts we spoke with said they used ESSER funds to purchase
devices, like laptops, for students; 10 of these 14 districts said ESSER funds helped provide every student with
a device to use for schoolwork. Some districts told us they initiated activities to provide every student with a
device before the pandemic, and ESSER funds helped them accelerate such efforts.
Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Spending by School District Characteristics
We analyzed Education’s data on ESSER spending through school year 2021–22 by school district characteristics:
· Urbanicity (urban, suburban, rural)
· Enrollment (small, medium, large)
· Free or reduced-price lunch eligibility (low, mid, and high)
· Student racial demographics (majority White, majority Nonwhite).
Overall, school districts spent their ESSER funds in similar ways across a range of district characteristics with a few minor differences. For example,
urban districts used 45 percent of their ESSER funds on meeting students’ academic, social, and emotional needs. Rural and suburban districts used
47 percent and 51 percent, respectively. In addition, a higher percentage of initial ESSER funds went toward operational continuity in large districts
(40 percent) compared to districts with small (34 percent) and medium (30 percent) enrollments.
Source: GAO analysis of Department of Education (Education) data. | GAO-24-106913
Operational continuity and other allowed uses. According to Education’s guidance, activities that fell into
this category included those not captured by the other three categories, but that were necessary to maintain
the operation of and continuity of services in school districts, including continuing to employ staff.
Officials from 16 of the 17 school districts we interviewed said they used a portion of their ESSER funds to pay
staff salaries during the pandemic. For example, one district used ESSER funds to pay bus drivers when
schools were closed early in the pandemic. District officials said this allowed them to retain the bus drivers and
bridge the gap until schools reopened to in-person instruction. Had the district not used ESSER funds in this
way, officials said that the drivers may have changed jobs, which would have negatively affected the
operational continuity of the district’s busing services.
This category also included activities authorized by several other statutes, such as the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.17
Addressing physical health and safety. According to Education’s guidance, activities that fell into this
category included facilities upgrades and maintenance, improving ventilation, cleaning and sanitizing supplies,
activities to promote social distancing, COVID-19 testing and contact tracing, and purchasing personal
protective equipment (PPE) such as masks. Nationally, 80 percent of school districts reported spending some
ESSER funds on at least one activity to maintain safe, in-person instruction in school year 2021–22 (see fig. 3).
17The statutes authorizing ESSER included provisions allowing school districts to use ESSER funds for any activity authorized by a list
of several other education-related statutes.
Page 8 GAO-24-106913 K-12 COVID-19 Relief Spending
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Figure 3: School Districts’ Reported Spending of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds for Activities to
Maintain Safe, In-Person Instruction in School Year 2021–22
Accessible Data for Figure 3: School Districts’ Reported Spending of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief
Funds for Activities to Maintain Safe, In-Person Instruction in School Year 2021–22
Category Percentage of school districts
Cleaning and disinfection 61.1
Physical distancing (six feet apart) 51.7
Ventilation 46.2
Handwashing and respiratory etiquette 42.6
Page 9 GAO-24-106913 K-12 COVID-19 Relief Spending
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Category Percentage of school districts
Consistent and correct mask use 42.2
Staying home when sick and getting tested 37.3
Contact tracing 33.8
Screening testing to identify cases and outbreaks 32.9
Promoting vaccination 22.3
Source: GAO analysis of Department of Education data; Adobe Stock (icons). | GAO-24-106913
Officials from 13 of the 17 school districts told us they used ESSER funds to upgrade heating, ventilation, and
air conditioning (HVAC) systems or other efforts to improve air quality (see fig. 4). Two districts we visited were
in the process of building new schools from the ground up, using an estimated $260 million in ESSER funds,
collectively, to build four schools, according to district officials. District officials said that three of these new
schools would replace schools that were more than 100 years old and in dire need of repair.
Figure 4: Rooftop Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning Units Purchased with Elementary and Secondary School
Emergency Relief Funds
Accessible Text for Figure 4: Rooftop Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning Units Purchased with Elementary and
Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds
Photo of rooftop HVAC units
Source: GAO. | GAO-24-106913
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Efforts to Reengage Students with Poor Attendance or Participation
Education collected data on school district efforts to reengage students with poor attendance or participation, regardless of whether the district used
Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds to support the effort. For school year 2021–22, Education’s data showed that 80 percent
of districts had engaged in at least one effort for this purpose. Specifically:
· 71 percent outreached directly to families.
· 67 percent introduced new curricular strategies for student engagement.
· 58 percent offered credit recovery and acceleration.
· 54 percent offered home internet service or devices.
· 50 percent engaged with the district’s homeless liaison.
· 36 percent partnered with community organizations.
Source: GAO analysis of Department of Education (Education) data. | GAO-24-106913
Mental health supports for students and staff. According to Education’s guidance, activities that fell into this
category included staffing or activities to assess and support mental health for students, educators, and
families.
School districts we interviewed described a range of ESSER-funded activities to support mental health. For
example, officials from 12 of the 17 school districts we spoke with said they hired social workers or school
psychologists or purchased telehealth therapy services. One district we visited used ESSER funds to establish
“Reset Centers” in the district’s middle and high schools to help students manage their behavior (see fig. 5).
Students with minor disciplinary infractions typically spend one period at the Reset Center before returning to
the classroom, according to district officials.
Figure 5: “Reset Center” to Help Students Manage Behavior, Staffed and Furnished Using Elementary and Secondary School
Emergency Relief Funds
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Accessible Text for Figure 5: “Reset Center” to Help Students Manage Behavior, Staffed and Furnished Using Elementary and
Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds
Photo of Reset Room
Source: GAO. | GAO-24-106913
Subcategories of ESSER spending. Among the nine subcategories of spending that Education collected
data on, the highest percentage of ESSER funds went to salaries (about 40 percent, or $23.1 billion) through
school year 2021–22 (see fig. 6). This subcategory included salaries for staff that were already employed by
the district when the pandemic began and new hires during the pandemic.
Figure 6: School District Reported Spending of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds by Subcategory
through School Year 2021–22
Accessible Data for Figure 6: School District Reported Spending of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief
Funds by Subcategory through School Year 2021–22
Category Percentage Dollars in billions
Salaries 40.3 23.1
Supplies 17.7 10.1
Purchased professional and technical 10.3 5.9
services
Benefits 10.0 5.7
Other items 7.3 4.2
Property 6.5 3.7
Page 12 GAO-24-106913 K-12 COVID-19 Relief Spending
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Category Percentage Dollars in billions
Other purchased services 4.8 2.7
Purchased property services 2.4 1.4
Debt service and miscellaneous 0.6 0.3
Source: GAO analysis of Department of Education data. | GAO-24-106913
For example, officials from 15 of the 17 school districts we interviewed said they hired new staff using ESSER
funds. These new staff included teachers, nurses, counselors, math and reading specialists, and custodians.
Conversely, officials from two districts we interviewed said they were wary of adding permanent staff using
ESSER funds because they were not sure they could sustain those positions after ESSER funding ended.
Instead, these two districts relied on contractors or temporary workers to fill positions in the district during the
pandemic.
Selected School Districts Balanced National, State, and District
Considerations When Prioritizing ESSER Spending
Multiple considerations at the national, state, and district levels influenced selected school districts’ decisions
on how to prioritize ESSER spending. National and state issues included the amount and timing of ESSER
funds districts received, spending deadlines, the availability of service providers, and state requirements.
District-level issues such as community input, districts’ spending philosophy, and districts’ specific financial
needs and goals also influenced spending priorities.
ESSER funding amount. For the 17 districts we visited, the amount of ESSER funds received varied
considerably and was an important factor in determining how they prioritized their spending. Although larger
districts did not necessarily receive more ESSER funds per pupil than smaller districts, the total amount of
funding large districts received allowed them to afford higher-cost items that smaller districts might be less
likely to afford. For example, one large, urban district that received over $1 billion in ESSER funds spent nearly
$2 million in ESSER-funded HVAC system upgrades for a single school according to district officials. Officials
from a small, rural district that received less than $2 million in ESSER funds in total told us the school district
also made HVAC upgrades to one of its schools. However, the district limited the upgrades to a wing of the
school, enabling the district to save ESSER funds to address other issues like learning loss, mental health, and
reengaging students.
Regardless of the amount of ESSER funds selected districts received, officials in most of the 17 districts said
their ESSER funds allowed them to do things they would not have been able to do otherwise. For some
districts that meant taking care of basic needs while preventing funding deficits. For others, it meant moving
beyond basic needs to make capital improvements or implement new activities.
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Spending requirements. ESSER spending requirements presented a challenge, according to some district
officials, that influenced how they spent ESSER funds. For example, officials from three districts told us that
their districts had to have available funds to pay for goods and services upfront, while awaiting ESSER
reimbursement.18 Additionally, officials from two districts said federal and state spending and procurement
processes made it challenging for them to spend funds within the required time frames.
Officials from three districts told us they were challenged by the spending deadlines because of supply chain
issues. One district had recently planned to use ARP ESSER funds to purchase an HVAC system but chose
not to once it learned the wait-time for a new system was at least 18 months. Officials were concerned about
the project meeting the obligation deadline. Officials from 15 of 17 districts told us about having difficulty
procuring needed equipment and supplies.19 Officials from two of these districts said they would change their
spending decisions because of it.
Some state officials we interviewed echoed districts’ concerns about ESSER’s time frames. Officials from New
York, Pennsylvania, and Texas described the speed with which they needed to distribute such a large amount
of funding as particularly challenging. Some state officials noted that because state legislatures sometimes had
to appropriate ESSER funds before states could distribute the funds, districts were not able to spend ESSER
funds as soon as states received them. State and district officials also described other state actions that also
affected district spending. For example, state officials told us that Texas districts received their ESSER II funds
about 3 months after receiving their ARP ESSER because of the time needed to implement a state policy
affecting the allocation of ESSER II funds.
Conversely, officials from seven districts told us they benefitted from ESSER being less restrictive than other
federal grants as they responded to the pandemic. Although based on Title I, Part A allocations, ESSER funds
could be used for a wider range of potential activities under several federal education statutes, including Title I,
Part A. According to Education guidance, districts had considerable flexibility in determining how best to use
ESSER funds. Officials from one district said the flexibility meant that the district could direct ESSER funds to
18According to Education officials, each state determined its subrecipient payment process. The ESSER program did not require that
subrecipients be reimbursed.
19We have previously reported on the difficulty districts had purchasing high demand items such as HVAC air filters and laptops during
the pandemic. See, COVID-19: Sustained Federal Action Is Crucial as Pandemic Enters Its Second Year, GAO-21-387 (Washington,
D.C.: Mar. 31, 2021).
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emergencies and surprises that emerged throughout the pandemic. Officials from 12 of the 17 selected
districts said they used ESSER funds to free up other funds. This way, general funds could be redirected for
other needs, such as longer-term facilities updates.
State requirements. Officials in all six states described processes for reviewing and approving districts’
proposed uses of ESSER funds. Officials from all six states said they required districts to submit applications
describing how their planned use of ESSER funds aligned with the statute’s allowable uses of the funds, and
rejected proposals that did not meet that requirement.
States sometimes differed on what they considered allowable uses. For example, Florida, Michigan,
Pennsylvania, and Texas officials told us that they denied school districts’ proposed use of ESSER funds to
renovate or upgrade athletic fields, stadiums, or tracks because school districts could not justify that these
were necessary to plan for, prevent, or respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Officials in California said they
approved proposals when districts could clearly justify the spending with data on students’ academic and
behavioral outcomes. New York officials said that while they did not reject any ESSER applications overall,
they did reject individual proposals within them, such as building a community center, because the linkage to
preventing, preparing for, and responding to the pandemic was unclear.
Some state and district officials we spoke with said they worked together to ensure proposals met ESSER
requirements and were successful. For example, officials from one district said there was back and forth with
the state to ensure the district was using ESSER funds for allowable purposes. Three districts reported having
a proposal rejected by the state.
Other state actions also influenced districts’ spending decisions. Legislatures in Florida and Michigan set broad
goals for the use of ESSER funds, but districts decided exactly which activities to pursue within the goals,
according to state officials. Legislatures in New York and Texas used ESSER I funds to replace state
education funding to districts. New York and Texas district officials told us that they used their ESSER I funds
to replace lost state funding and maintain basic operations. Officials from one Florida district said the state
legislature required districts to spend some of their ESSER II funds on summer instruction. However, the
district struggled with both teacher and student participation and had difficulty spending the funds. Officials
added that they might have used those funds elsewhere, if not for the state legislature’s requirements.
Availability of service providers. Along with supply chain issues, officials in 10 of the 17 districts said they
struggled to find vendors, contractors, or staff to implement ESSER-funded activities. For example, officials
from a rural district said it took a year to find a qualified applicant for a licensed professional counselor position.
Officials from a small district told us that they believed they did not always receive what they needed, such as
laptops, in a timely fashion because vendors gave preferential treatment to larger districts with bigger orders.
Officials from 10 districts told us they were inundated with solicitations from vendors offering their services.
One district official told us that early in the pandemic it was not uncommon for him to return to his desk after a
meeting and find 100 vendor emails. Officials from 10 of 17 districts told us they generally tried to rely on
vendors with whom they had an established relationship for ESSER-funded activities. For example, officials
from one district told us they were able to sort through solicitations based on their established contracts and
relationships with vendors. Thus, it was not difficult to find reputable vendors to provide the goods or services
the district wanted to purchase with ESSER funds.
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Officials from states we visited said they played a minimal role in identifying vendors or contractors. However,
state officials in New York and Texas said districts were able to access statewide contracts to procure goods
such as PPE and HVAC items, and technology items such as laptops and remote learning technologies at
discounted prices.
Community engagement. Officials in almost all of the 17 districts we visited described ways they engaged
with stakeholders to inform decisions about ESSER spending.20 For example, 10 districts held public town halls
or distributed surveys to stakeholders. Officials from two districts said they used social media to engage and
educate community stakeholders. One district had a feedback button on its website that the public could use to
share its input on how the district should use its ARP ESSER funds. This process generated more than 600
pieces of feedback, which informed the district’s priority areas for ARP ESSER. Officials from another district
said their “roadshows” and other efforts to reengage families helped lead to a decrease in chronic
absenteeism.
Community engagement could also prove challenging for some districts, as community members sometimes
suggested activities that district officials believed were not feasible. Officials from one district said community
members sometimes suggested activities that did not align with the district’s strategy. Officials said it was
challenging to communicate why the district was not going to implement the activities when other districts
nearby were using ESSER funds for those purposes.
Districts’ own spending strategy. More than half of the districts (10 of 17) relied on a specific spending
philosophy to guide and prioritize their use of ESSER funds. For example, officials from one district told us the
outcomes the district sought to achieve through ESSER spending were tied to the district’s local accountability
plan. Some districts developed specific goals during the pandemic and used ESSER funds to support them.
For example, one district focused on broad pandemic-related goals including addressing learning loss and
ensuring a safe return to school. Officials said having these goals allowed the district to prioritize spending and
rule out proposals for spending ESSER funds that did not advance these priorities. Given the short-term nature
of ESSER funding, some districts planned to use the funds to pilot new activities. For example, officials in one
district said they used ESSER funds to pilot programs to determine their effectiveness and whether the district
wanted to sustain the program after ESSER ended.
District financial conditions. Officials told us that the districts’ financial conditions also influenced how they
used ESSER funds. Officials in one district told us that they had run a deficit for many years prior to the
pandemic. They said ESSER funds helped the district address some basic needs, like re-opening school
libraries which had been shuttered for over a decade. Officials from another district told us that ESSER funds
would help the district eliminate a large budget deficit without massive service cuts. Officials from four districts
told us they used ESSER funds to free up general funds for needed capital investment projects. For example,
20For ARP ESSER, Education required districts to engage in meaningful consultation with stakeholders, including students, families,
and staff in developing spending plans.
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officials from one district said they had major school facility needs, but prior to the pandemic the district could
not secure the funds to address them. ESSER funding allowed the district to start a capital improvement
program to address deferred maintenance and upgrade facilities.
Selected School Districts Used Various Data to Examine Effects of
ESSER Spending and Plan for the Future
Most Districts We Spoke with Were Examining Effects of ESSERfunded Activities, but
Isolating the Effects of ESSER Spending Was Challenging
Officials from 16 of 17 districts told us they were examining the effects of their ESSER spending. Many districts
used academic performance data, including assessment data, to help them understand the effectiveness of
activities such as tutoring and summer school programs. A few districts also used graduation rates to assess
outcomes. Officials from two districts told us they used ESSER funds to purchase products that assess and
monitor academic performance (see fig. 7). Another district discovered that it could replicate a dashboard
created for contact tracing to manage academic and social and emotional learning data.
Figure 7: Bulletin Board Tracking Student Performance Using a New Assessment Funded with Elementary and Secondary
School Emergency Relief Funds
Accessible Text for Figure 7: Bulletin Board Tracking Student Performance Using a New Assessment Funded with Elementary
and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds
Photo of Student Assessment
Source: GAO. | GAO-24-106913
Nine districts also used other data to assess ESSER-funded activities, according to officials. For example,
officials from seven districts told us they used behavior and disciplinary referrals or school climate survey data
to examine effects of activities aimed at improving behavioral and mental health. Several districts used
attendance data to assess activities designed in part to reengage students and encourage students to return in
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person when schools reopened. Most officials said they were seeing improvement, including officials from
three districts who said academic performance was generally back to pre-pandemic levels. Officials from other
districts told us they were seeing mixed results with improvement in some grade levels and not in others.
Districts also described challenges with rigorously evaluating the relationship between education spending and
outcomes. First, it may be difficult to pinpoint the effectiveness of any individual activity because districts often
implemented multiple activities simultaneously. For example, officials from 10 districts told us they provided
both afterschool and summer enrichment programs as ARP ESSER required activities to combat pandemic
learning loss. At the same time, officials in some districts told us they made substantial changes to their
curriculum. To encourage students to reengage and return to school, officials from one district told us they
employed multiple strategies: they formed a team to call families when students were absent, hired multilingual
liaisons to connect families with services and address factors contributing to absenteeism, added new
afterschool programs to engage students, and partnered with the local Parks and Recreation Department to
offer programs between school sessions.
Additionally, it may be several years before districts see measurable effects. Officials from two districts told us
it was too early to know for sure how the district’s ESSER investments have affected academic performance.
An official from another district said, “It takes time to develop and implement new initiatives, so it will also take
several years to accurately start to measure outcomes.” Not enough time has passed to know if any initial
positive effects attributed to districts’ ESSER-funded activities will be sustained in the coming years.
Most state officials we interviewed said examining the effects of ESSER spending generally fell to the school
districts. New York officials told us that while they track various outcomes for students, it was difficult to
causally relate those outcomes to spending of specific ESSER funds. California and New York officials told us
they were partnering with the Comprehensive Center Network’s Strategic Planning for Continued Recovery
initiative, funded through an Education grant, to help school districts evaluate the effectiveness of their
ESSER-funded activities and plan for when ESSER expires. Pennsylvania officials said they were considering
working with Education to measure ESSER’s effects.
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Selected School Districts’ Decisions About Sustaining or Sunsetting ESSERfunded
Activities Depended on Program Results and Available Funding
Most district officials told us school districts actively planned for ESSER funding’s end and several officials said
that outcomes data and the availability of post-ESSER funding influenced their decisions to sustain, scale, or
sunset ESSER-funded activities. For instance, officials from one district told us they started formally planning
for ESSER funding’s end nearly 2 years before the final obligation deadline in September 2024. Officials from
four districts told us that ESSER funding’s end figured into their spending decisions from the beginning. For
example, officials from one district said they did not hire many permanent staff whom they might have to fire
after ESSER funds ran out. The district relied on several contractors instead. Officials from two other districts
told us that their experience using funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)
influenced how they spent ESSER funds. For example, one official said their experience with ARRA made
them wary of spending ESSER funds in a way that would not be sustainable long-term and cause a funding
cliff.21
Officials from four districts expressed concerns about experiencing an “ESSER fiscal cliff.” For example,
officials from one district said their district was running a financial deficit prior to the pandemic. While ESSER
allowed them to avoid cuts for a few years and add many new services and activities, officials said they had
some hard decisions ahead about what to keep and what to cut.
Officials in all six states we visited described efforts to help school districts prepare for the end of ESSER
funds, including providing consistent messaging throughout the pandemic that ESSER funds would end.
Officials also encouraged school districts to be thoughtful about avoiding the kind of spending that could lead
21We reported on similar issues in our November 2023 report on states’ experiences with COVID-19 relief funds. See GAO, COVID-19
Relief Funds: State Experiences Could Inform Future Federal Relief Funding, GAO-24-106152 (Washington, D.C.: Nov. 15, 2023).
Page 19 GAO-24-106913 K-12 COVID-19 Relief Spending
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to an ESSER fiscal cliff. For example, in Texas, school districts had to attest that they had discussed the
spending deadlines and potential fiscal cliff issues with their local school board before the state provided the
district with their ESSER II and ARP ESSER allocations, according to state officials.
Sustaining activities. Officials from 14 of our 17 districts told us they intended to sustain at least one ESSER-
funded activity after funding expired. For example, officials from one district said that they had seen strong
academic gains from students that participated in the district’s enhanced summer programming and would
maintain that effort. Another district used ESSER funds to hire a board-certified behavior analyst to identify
students in need of support and then develop individualized plans to assist those students. District officials said
this strategy has been effective and that they planned to keep the analyst on staff after ESSER funding ends.
Three of these districts intended to use general funds to sustain specific initiatives, according to district
officials. In addition to using general funds, some districts planned to repurpose some federal funding, explore
options for new funding from non-governmental organizations, or use state funding to sustain activities. For
example, officials from one district planned to use increased funding from a state grant for schools with high
concentrations of high-needs students to continue activities. Officials from one district said they would sunset
older, pre-pandemic programs to free up funds to continue ESSER-funded activities because the ESSER-
funded activities were showing better results.
Scaling activities up or down. Officials from seven districts intended to either scale up or scale down
ESSER-funded activities. For example, in one district, officials told us that a new curriculum piloted with
ESSER funds was so successful that they had already scaled it up district-wide. In another district, officials
implemented a state-authorized professional development program for teacher certifications, including one
targeting paraprofessionals and tutors. Officials said the district sought to scale this program up and recruit
more teachers from it.
Officials from four districts said they lacked the funding needed to continue some ESSER-funded activities as
implemented and planned to scale them down. For example, a district with no licensed professional counselors
prior to the pandemic used ESSER funds to hire three counselors. The district planned to scale back to two
counselors once ESSER expired.
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Sunsetting activities. Officials from three districts told us they planned to sunset some activities that had not
produced desired results. For instance, one district will sunset a summer school program due to low student
participation and high cost. Officials from another district said that they would not renew an ESSER-funded
contract for a curriculum that provides personalized learning modules because the program was difficult to
implement and did not produce the expected academic gains.
Officials from three districts said they may be forced to sunset ESSER-funded activities due to a lack of funds
when ESSER funding ends, even if the activities were successful. Officials from one of these districts told us
that although afterschool enrichment and tutoring programs were effective for students during the pandemic,
they would end because there would be no available funding after ESSER for continuing these programs.
Officials from two districts said they would use natural attrition to avoid laying off staff hired with ESSER funds.
Agency Comments
We provided a draft of this report to the Department of Education for review and comment. The Department of
Education provided technical comments, which we incorporated as appropriate.
As agreed with your office, unless you publicly announce the contents of this report earlier, we plan no further
distribution until 30 days from the report date. At that time, we will send copies to the appropriate congressional
committees, the Secretary of Education, and other interested parties. In addition, the report is available at no
charge on the GAO website at https://www.gao.gov.
If you or your staff have any questions about this report, please contact me at 202-512-7215 or
nowickij@gao.gov. Contact points for our Offices of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found
on the last page of this report. GAO staff who made key contributions to this report are listed in appendix III.
Sincerely,
Jacqueline M. Nowicki, Director
Education, Workforce, and Income Security Issues
Page 21 GAO-24-106913 K-12 COVID-19 Relief Spending
Appendix I: School Districts Included in Analysis of Elementary and Secondary School
Emergency Relief Fund Reported Spending
Appendix I: School Districts Included in Analysis of
Elementary and Secondary School Emergency
Relief Fund Reported Spending
This appendix includes two tables that describe the school districts included in our analysis of Elementary and
Secondary School Emergency Relief funds. Specifically, this appendix includes:
· Table 2: Common Core of Data Variables Used to Analyze Elementary and Secondary School
Emergency Relief Data by School District Characteristics, and
· Table 3: Characteristics of School Districts Selected for Nongeneralizable Site Visits.
Table 2: Common Core of Data (CCD) Variables Used to Analyze Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief
(ESSER) Data by School District Characteristics
Category CCD variable Description
Urbanicity Urban School districts with a “city” locale code.
Urbanicity Suburban School districts with a “suburb” locale code.
Urbanicity Rural School districts with a “rural” or “town” locale code.
Enrollment Small School districts with 0-4,999 students.
Enrollment Medium School districts with 5,000-24,999 students.
Enrollment Large School districts with 25,000 or more students.
Student racial demographics Majority White School districts where more than 50% of the students are
White.
Student racial demographics Majority Nonwhite School districts where more than 50% of the students are
Nonwhite.
Free or reduced-price lunch Low School districts where 0-25% of students are eligible for
(FRPL) eligibility FRPL.
Free or reduced-price lunch Mid-low School districts where 25.1-49.9% of students are eligible
(FRPL) eligibility for FRPL.
Free or reduced-price lunch Mid-high School districts where 50-74.9% of students are eligible
(FRPL) eligibility for FRPL.
Free or reduced-price lunch High School districts where 75% or more of students are
(FRPL) eligibility eligible for FRPL.
Source: GAO review of the Department of Education’s CCD and ESSER data. | GAO-24-106913
Page 22 GAO-24-106913 K-12 COVID-19 Relief Spending
Appendix I: School Districts Included in Analysis of Elementary and Secondary School
Emergency Relief Fund Reported Spending
Table 3: Characteristics of School Districts Selected for Nongeneralizable Site Visits
Category Characteristics Number of selected school districts
Urbanicity Urban 8
Urbanicity Suburban 5
Urbanicity Rural 4
Enrollment Small 4
Enrollment Medium 4
Enrollment Large 9
Student racial demographics Majority White 2
Student racial demographics Majority Nonwhite 15
Free or reduced-price lunch Low 0
eligibility
Free or reduced-price lunch Mid-low 3
eligibility
Free or reduced-price lunch Mid-high 3
eligibility
Free or reduced-price lunch High 10
eligibility
Source: GAO review of Department of Education data. | GAO-24-106913
Note: One district did not have free or reduced-price lunch eligibility data available.
Page 23 GAO-24-106913 K-12 COVID-19 Relief Spending
Appendix II: State Data on Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund
Spending through School Year 2021–22
Appendix II: State Data on Elementary and
Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund
Spending through School Year 2021–22
This appendix shows school district reported spending of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief
(ESSER) funds through school year 2021–22, aggregated at the state level (see table 4).
Table 4: Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund Reported Spending by Category and State through School
Year 2021–22
Dollars in billions
State Academic, Academic, Continuity Continuity Physical Physical Mental Mental Total Total
social, social, of of health health health health
emotional, emotional, operations operations and and supports supports
and other and other and other and other safety safety for for
needs needs allowed allowed students students
uses uses and staff and staff
Alabama $0.696 67.6% $0.165 16.0% $0.145 14.1% $0.024 2.3% $1.030 100%
Alaska $0.124 65.3% $0.046 24.2% $0.017 8.9% $0.003 1.6% $0.190 100%
Arizona $0.456 43.5% $0.393 37.5% $0.189 18.0% $0.011 1.0% $1.049 100%
Arkansas $0.359 45.1% $0.292 36.7% $0.139 17.5% $0.006 0.8% $0.796 100%
California $3.518 46.0% $2.330 30.5% $1.641 21.5% $0.160 2.1% $7.649 100%
Colorado $0.047 75.4% $0.005 8.0% $0.010 16.1% $0.000 0.5% $0.062 100%
Connecticut $0.285 62.5% $0.074 16.2% $0.065 14.3% $0.032 7.0% $0.456 100%
Delaware $0.102 52.8% $0.046 23.8% $0.038 19.7% $0.007 3.6% $0.193 100%
District of Columbia $0.164 73.9% $0.010 4.5% $0.043 19.4% $0.005 2.3% $0.222 100%
Florida $2.106 59.2% $0.856 24.0% $0.500 14.0% $0.098 2.8% $3.560 100%
Georgia $1.268 46.8% $1.092 40.3% $0.288 10.6% $0.059 2.2% $2.707 100%
Hawaii $0.057 20.1% $0.207 72.9% $0.019 6.7% $0.001 0.4% $0.284 100%
Idaho $0.071 37.6% $0.077 40.7% $0.032 16.9% $0.009 4.8% $0.189 100%
Illinois $0.825 31.7% $1.202 46.2% $0.528 20.3% $0.045 1.7% $2.600 100%
Indiana $0.502 56.0% $0.201 22.4% $0.174 19.4% $0.019 2.1% $0.896 100%
Iowa $0.258 47.2% $0.153 28.0% $0.125 22.9% $0.011 2.0% $0.547 100%
Kansas $0.126 39.9% $0.141 44.6% $0.042 13.3% $0.007 2.2% $0.316 100%
Kentucky $0.694 64.6% $0.239 22.3% $0.121 11.3% $0.020 1.9% $1.074 100%
Louisiana $0.580 56.3% $0.290 28.1% $0.149 14.5% $0.012 1.2% $1.031 100%
Maine $0.069 51.5% $0.025 18.7% $0.038 28.4% $0.002 1.5% $0.134 100%
Maryland $0.300 36.3% $0.181 21.9% $0.159 19.2% $0.187 22.6% $0.827 100%
Massachusetts $0.351 56.4% $0.115 18.5% $0.120 19.3% $0.036 5.8% $0.622 100%
Michigan $1.669 42.7% $1.655 42.3% $0.449 11.5% $0.140 3.6% $3.913 100%
Minnesota $0.406 55.1% $0.212 28.8% $0.095 12.9% $0.024 3.3% $0.737 100%
Page 24 GAO-24-106913 K-12 COVID-19 Relief Spending
Appendix II: State Data on Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund
Spending through School Year 2021–22
State Academic, Academic, Continuity Continuity Physical Physical Mental Mental Total Total
social, social, of of health health health health
emotional, emotional, operations operations and and supports supports
and other and other and other and other safety safety for for
needs needs allowed allowed students students
uses uses and staff and staff
Mississippi $0.204 45.6% $0.157 35.1% $0.079 17.7% $0.007 1.6% $0.447 100%
Missouri $0.485 40.5% $0.481 40.2% $0.203 16.9% $0.029 2.4% $1.198 100%
Montana $0.063 42.6% $0.046 31.1% $0.035 23.6% $0.004 2.7% $0.148 100%
Nebraska $0.143 54.0% $0.057 21.5% $0.057 21.5% $0.008 3.0% $0.265 100%
Nevada $0.254 53.4% $0.198 41.6% $0.018 3.8% $0.006 1.3% $0.476 100%
New Hampshire $0.113 78.5% $0.020 13.9% $0.008 5.6% $0.003 2.1% $0.144 100%
New Jersey $0.386 45.8% $0.213 25.3% $0.216 25.6% $0.028 3.3% $0.843 100%
New Mexico $0.199 53.6% $0.092 24.8% $0.063 17.0% $0.017 4.6% $0.371 100%
New York $0.901 37.8% $1.158 48.6% $0.212 8.9% $0.112 4.7% $2.383 100%
North Carolina $1.343 63.6% $0.430 20.4% $0.338 16.0% $0.002 0.1% $2.113 100%
North Dakota $0.049 45.4% $0.034 31.5% $0.023 21.3% $0.002 1.9% $0.108 100%
Ohio $1.051 51.2% $0.577 28.1% $0.394 19.2% $0.032 1.6% $2.054 100%
Oklahoma $0.503 53.3% $0.420 44.5% $0.001 0.1% $0.019 2.0% $0.943 100%
Oregon $0.313 54.2% $0.189 32.7% $0.069 11.9% $0.007 1.2% $0.578 100%
Pennsylvania $1.164 41.2% $1.212 42.9% $0.344 12.2% $0.105 3.7% $2.825 100%
Rhode Island $0.049 50.5% $0.020 20.6% $0.024 24.7% $0.004 4.1% $0.097 100%
South Carolina $0.485 61.8% $0.168 21.4% $0.121 15.4% $0.011 1.4% $0.785 100%
South Dakota $0.028 31.1% $0.017 18.9% $0.033 36.7% $0.012 13.3% $0.090 100%
Tennessee $0.681 55.7% $0.225 18.4% $0.293 24.0% $0.023 1.9% $1.222 100%
Texas $2.342 42.0% $2.561 45.9% $0.578 10.4% $0.093 1.7% $5.574 100%
Utah $0.171 79.5% $0.020 9.3% $0.022 10.2% $0.002 0.9% $0.215 100%
Vermont $0.060 60.6% $0.022 22.2% $0.016 16.2% $0.001 1.0% $0.099 100%
Virginia $0.298 44.1% $0.199 29.5% $0.164 24.3% $0.014 2.1% $0.675 100%
Washington $0.298 29.5% $0.275 27.2% $0.221 21.9% $0.216 21.4% $1.010 100%
West Virginia $0.205 59.4% $0.068 19.7% $0.064 18.6% $0.008 2.3% $0.345 100%
Wisconsin $0.269 61.8% $0.036 8.3% $0.120 27.6% $0.010 2.3% $0.435 100%
Wyoming $0.063 56.8% $0.029 26.1% $0.016 14.4% $0.003 2.7% $0.111 100%
Source: GAO analysis of Department of Education data. | GAO-24-106913
Page 25 GAO-24-106913 K-12 COVID-19 Relief Spending
Appendix III: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments
Appendix III: GAO Contact and Staff
Acknowledgments
GAO Contact
Jacqueline M. Nowicki, Director, (202) 512-7215 or nowickij@gao.gov
Staff Acknowledgments
In addition to the contact named above, Scott Spicer (Assistant Director), David Watsula (Analyst-in-Charge),
Sean Connolly, and Cheryl Jones made key contributions to this report. Elizabeth Calderon, Sara Daleski,
Brooke Linsenbardt, Jean McSween, John Mingus Jr., Mimi Nguyen, Kathryn O’Dea Lamas, and Joy
Solmonson provided additional support.
Page 26 GAO-24-106913 K-12 COVID-19 Relief Spending
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