Critic Of Hinsdale D-86 Wrong About Federal Money

DARIEN, IL — A critic of Hinsdale High School District 86 was wrong last week when she said federal money for schools comes with strings attached, such as mask mandates. Others around the country have made similar claims.

At last week's school board meeting, Hinsdale resident Shannon Frey focused on the federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund, or ESSER.

"There are also requirements that come along with the ESSER money, which is to keep the kids masked, to contact trace, to run vaccination clinics," she said.

She added, "Surprise, surprise, the schools with the most money are still masked."

But this is not what is happening. Money is being distributed to school districts around the country, including states where masks and other pandemic-related rules are virtually non-existent in schools.

Florida, which has banned mask mandates in schools, has received more than $7 billion in school relief money in the latest round, according to a U.S. Department of Education news release. Illinois, by comparison, got about $5 billion.

The federal money can be used for a variety of purposes. That includes coronavirus mitigation measures, which are not required.

In her comments at the board meeting, Frey wondered how the district would spend its federal money.

"Is it lining your own pockets? It is lining the teachers' pockets? Because it is certainly not helping the children," Frey said.

In August, the district released a plan for how it plans to spend the money. Seventy percent of the $2 million is set to be used for the identification of "learning loss" and additional academic and clinical support personnel to help students affected by remote or intermittent learning during the pandemic, according to the document.

The other 30 percent is to be used for prevention and mitigation strategies in response to the pandemic.

The federal relief money is distributed on the basis of previous education funding programs.

In response to a Patch inquiry, Frey said in a message that she meant her statements to be more of a question about whether, in fact, federal money was tied to mask mandates.

She said it was reasonable to ask how the district was spending the federal money.

"Make sure you are intellectually honest in your reporting because the numbers are so large that this will not go away," Frey said.