How Is Federal Coronavirus Response Funding Spent At Boulder Valley School District?

Press release from the Boulder Valley School District:

November 15, 2021

You can’t put a price on education - it’s priceless. But when it comes to funding for schools, every bit counts. The COVID-19 pandemic placed enormous pressure on school district funding and expenditures beginning in March 2020.

“There were many opportunities [for grants] that we applied for specifically, as well as the formula funding that we received through some of the specific grants to respond to the conditions created by the pandemic,” said BVSD Chief Financial Officer Bill Sutter.

BVSD recently received the ESSER and the Coronavirus Relief formula funds through The CARES Act.

The ESSER fund, or the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund, provides support for both public and non-public K-12 schools as part of the Education Stabilization Fund in the CARES Act. The federal government administers the funds to the state education agency (Colorado Department of Education) who then distributes the funds to local school districts.

The Coronavirus Relief Fund provides federal funding to assist schools with the impacts from the pandemic.

Grants/funds BVSD received for the 2020-21 through the 2023-24 school year

• ESSER I Fund - awarded $1.5 million - District allocated towards remote learning technology - monitors, chromebooks, webcams for teachers - everything needed for the REVA system which was used for HyFlex instruction.
• ESSER II Fund - awarded $6.2 million - District allocated towards PPE, cleaning supplies, CO2 sensors, online learning programs, unemployment claims, nurses, HVAC systems.
• ESSER III Fund - awarded $14 million - District allocated towards differentiated funding for high support schools, the addition of BU Link for additional online learning opportunities, COVID testing and nurses.
• Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) - awarded $14.9 million - District allocated entirely towards teacher salaries.
• Safe Schools Reopening Grant (through the CRF) - awarded $1.5 million - District allocated for HVAC, air filters and cleaning supplies to help reopen schools.
• Special education grant - This is a separate allocation from the state for $1.6 million, which will focus on COVID catch up and support for students with IEPs.
• Connecting Colorado Grant - awarded $1.3 million for ConnectME with Livewire and for hotspots.
• Homeless Students - $0.1 million for tutors, mental health and housing.

“These additional federal resources have been, and will continue to be incredibly important to BVSD, allowing for health and safety responses to the pandemic as well as addressing the learning loss experienced by some students,” added Sutter. “Without these resources, drastic measures would have been required to fund the necessary expenditures to bring students back to school safely and continue the incredible teaching and learning that happens each and every day in BVSD.”

Accountability in BVSD

BVSD is evaluated annually by the Colorado Department of Education for its performance - using student participation in mandatory state assessments, academic achievement, academic growth and postsecondary outcomes as measures. Districts are also monitored on teacher quality - using licensing, credentials, experience and teacher evaluations as measures.

Altogether, the accountability system demonstrates how the district and each school are performing in serving their students, and this also forms the basis for a district's accreditation. BVSD is currently "Accredited with Distinction" by the Colorado Department of Education. This is the highest ranking.

The district also undergoes an annual audit by an external, independent audit firm. All funds within the district are included. The audit firm has provided clean opinions on the accuracy of district financial statements each year. The firm also provides a separate annual audit over the district's federal grant funding.

Parent and Stakeholder Involvement

BVSD welcomes questions/suggestions from parents, students, staff, partner agencies and community members regarding the planning, implementation and evaluation of programs supported by all district resources. The opportunities for input occur annually during the budget development process as well as specific outreach targeting specific district programs.

This press release was produced by the Boulder Valley School District. The views expressed here are the author’s own.