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COVID-19 relief funds aimed at helping keep schools open, teachers & children safe & students learning
Congressman Brian Higgins, D-NY-26, announced school districts in Erie and Niagara counties would see an estimated $413,973,000 in COVID-19 relief under President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan. The data was provided by the House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor, which recently held hearings to advance education measures included in the $1.9 trillion COVID relief package.
“Schools have taken extraordinary measures to meet the challenges of keeping children safe and learning during the pandemic,” Higgins said. “This has been a difficult time for districts, teachers, staff and families. Federal resources are urgently needed at the school district level directly and specifically to keep students from falling behind.”
Michael Cornell, superintendent of the Hamburg Central School District and president of the Erie-Niagara School Superintendents Association, said, “School districts in Erie and Niagara county have spared no effort or expense in support of the academic and non-academic needs of children and families since the beginning of this pandemic. While the details need to be worked out, we are always hopeful when we see a federal investment in public education.”
The COVID-19 relief package provides nearly $130 billion nationwide for an elementary and secondary school emergency relief fund.
Below is a breakdown of estimated funding to districts in Western New York provided by the Congressional Research Service.
|
LEA Name |
Estimated Grant |
Estimated Minimum Reservation of LEA Funds to Address Learning Loss |
Remaining LEA Funds |
ERIE |
Akron Central School District |
$1,723,000 |
$345,000 |
$1,378,000 |
ERIE |
Alden Central School District |
$1,752,000 |
$350,000 |
$1,401,000 |
ERIE |
Amherst Central School District |
$3,191,000 |
$638,000 |
$2,553,000 |
ERIE |
Buffalo City School District |
$245,107,000 |
$49,021,000 |
$196,086,000 |
ERIE |
Cheektowaga Central School District |
$5,814,000 |
$1,163,000 |
$4,652,000 |
ERIE |
Cheektowaga-Maryvale Union Free School District |
$4,035,000 |
$807,000 |
$3,228,000 |
ERIE |
Cheektowaga-Sloan Union Free School District |
$2,761,000 |
$552,000 |
$2,209,000 |
ERIE |
Clarence Central School District |
$3,592,000 |
$718,000 |
$2,874,000 |
ERIE |
Cleveland Hill Union Free School District |
$3,088,000 |
$618,000 |
$2,471,000 |
ERIE |
Depew Union Free School District |
$3,851,000 |
$770,000 |
$3,081,000 |
ERIE |
East Aurora Union Free School District |
$1,674,000 |
$335,000 |
$1,339,000 |
ERIE |
Eden Central School District |
$1,175,000 |
$235,000 |
$940,000 |
ERIE |
Evans-Brant Central School District (Lake Shore) |
$4,107,000 |
$821,000 |
$3,286,000 |
ERIE |
Frontier Central School District |
$4,062,000 |
$812,000 |
$3,250,000 |
ERIE |
Grand Island Central School District |
$2,685,000 |
$537,000 |
$2,148,000 |
ERIE |
Hamburg Central School District |
$2,007,000 |
$401,000 |
$1,605,000 |
ERIE |
Holland Central School District |
$959,000 |
$192,000 |
$767,000 |
ERIE |
Iroquois Central School District |
$1,449,000 |
$290,000 |
$1,159,000 |
ERIE |
Kenmore-Tonawanda Union Free School District |
$12,028,000 |
$2,406,000 |
$9,622,000 |
ERIE |
Lackawanna City School District |
$14,759,000 |
$2,952,000 |
$11,808,000 |
ERIE |
Lancaster Central School District |
$3,465,000 |
$693,000 |
$2,772,000 |
ERIE |
North Collins Central School District |
$996,000 |
$199,000 |
$797,000 |
ERIE |
Orchard Park Central School District |
$1,384,000 |
$277,000 |
$1,107,000 |
ERIE |
Springville-Griffith Institute Central School |
$2,261,000 |
$452,000 |
$1,809,000 |
ERIE |
Sweet Home Central School District |
$5,964,000 |
$1,193,000 |
$4,771,000 |
ERIE |
Tonawanda City School District |
$3,203,000 |
$641,000 |
$2,562,000 |
ERIE |
West Seneca Central School District |
$6,510,000 |
$1,302,000 |
$5,208,000 |
ERIE |
Williamsville Central School District |
$3,417,000 |
$683,000 |
$2,734,000 |
NIAGARA |
Barker Central School District |
$1,282,000 |
$256,000 |
$1,026,000 |
NIAGARA |
Lewiston-Porter Central School District |
$2,007,000 |
$401,000 |
$1,605,000 |
NIAGARA |
Lockport City School District |
$12,316,000 |
$2,463,000 |
$9,853,000 |
NIAGARA |
Newfane Central School District |
$2,139,000 |
$428,000 |
$1,711,000 |
NIAGARA |
Niagara Falls City School District |
$34,005,000 |
$6,801,000 |
$27,204,000 |
NIAGARA |
Niagara-Wheatfield Central School District |
$4,454,000 |
$891,000 |
$3,563,000 |
NIAGARA |
North Tonawanda City School District |
$5,974,000 |
$1,195,000 |
$4,779,000 |
NIAGARA |
Royalton-Hartland Central School District |
$1,605,000 |
$321,000 |
$1,284,000 |
NIAGARA |
Starpoint Central School District |
$1,576,000 |
$315,000 |
$1,261,000 |
NIAGARA |
Wilson Central School District |
$1,596,000 |
$319,000 |
$1,276,000 |
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Total Erie County |
$347,019,000 |
$69,403,000 |
$277,617,000 |
|
Total Niagara County |
$66,954,000 |
$13,390,000 |
$53,562,000 |
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TOTAL ERIE & NIAGARA SCHOOL DISTRICTS |
$413,973,000 |
$82,793,000 |
$331,179,000 |
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Source: Prepared by CRS on Feb. 17 based on the legislation ordered to be submitted to the House Budget Committee by the House Education and Labor Committee, pursuant to the reconciliation directives included in S.Con.Res. 5. and unpublished data provided by the U.S. Department of Education, budget service. |
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Notes: Details may not add to totals due to rounding. States would have to make adjustments to LEA grant amounts to account for LEAs for which CRS was unable to estimate grant amounts, such as newly formed LEAs or charter schools that operate as independent LEAs. Thus, the estimated LEA grant amounts detailed in this table may be higher than what an LEA would actually receive. If an LEA has an estimated grant amount of $0, the LEA did not receive a Title I-A grant in FY2020. LEA totals for a given state may not sum to estimated state totals for grants to LEAs included in Column G of Table 2 due to rounding. |
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Notice: These are estimated grants only. These estimates are provided solely to assist in comparisons of the relative impact of alternative formulas and funding levels in the legislative process. They are not intended to predict specific amounts LEAs would receive. In addition to other limitations, data needed to calculate final grants may not yet be available. |
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School districts (K-12) across New York will see over $2.6 billion. Separately, the state would receive $1.832 billion to assist child care operators and more than $59 million toward Head Start programs.
An additional $40 billion is included in the American Rescue Plan for higher education institutions, including more than $9.473 billion for colleges in New York. Under the legislation, colleges must dedicate at least half of the funding to students, addressing financial aid, homelessness, hunger or other COVID related student hardships.
On Feb. 22, the House Budget Committee, on which Higgins serves, will hold a hearing to consider the relief package including the education aid and measures advanced by other committees such as those announced by Higgins following the recent Ways and Means Committee hearing. The relief package will then advance to votes of the full House and Senate.