online, and review them every six months. He noted that the district came up with a list of items it wanted to spend the money on, which included hir- ing additional staff members like a mental health specialist, utilizing it for different train- ing programs, and purchasing Chromebooks for all students. Funds also went toward replac- ing HVAC systems in schools and enhancing outdoor learning spaces. Air quality solutions are not being con- sidered in school buses at this time, he added. “We worked with our district administrators to see where the needs were,” Walters said. “There was lots of money set aside for cleaning purposes; deep cleaning the building, ordering mask and social dis- tancing signage, and stickers for all of our buildings. And that did carry over to school buses because we were able to order all our cleaning sup- plies and additional cleaning supplies, such as foggers and chemicals that we use to fog our buses and spray our buses down after each run. Things like the Lysol wipes, stickers for buses for social distancing to separate kids on the bus—we labeled all of our buses where kids could seat and where they couldn’t. So, it did carry over to transportation, but it wasn’t specifically set aside for trans- portation.” In addition, the district ap-
plied to the School Bus Driver Recruitment and Retention In- centive Grant that was offered through the Virginia Depart- ment of Education. He said Rockbridge received $13,000, which helped with the staff bonuses.
ESSER FUNDS EXPLAINED Confusion over what the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER)
and Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) funds could be used for was a common theme in this month’s reader survey, not only in school districts but at the legislative level as well. Last October, Sen. Kristen Gillibrand of New York sent a letter to U.S. Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona urging clear guidance for states and school districts on how they can use ESSER funds to hire and retain school bus drivers. Over $300 billion in ESSER funds, which were included in the three COVID-19
recovery bills, the most recent being the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan that was signed into law last March, provides states and school districts with federal funds that can be used to retain and hire bus drivers as well as other staff members, School Transportation News previously reported. However, a press release issued by Gilli- brand’s office alleges that the DOE, “has not provided specific guidance about this allowable use and thus, it is likely many school districts are unaware that they can use these funds to address the bus driver shortage.” Following the letter, the DOE’s Office of Elementary and Secondary Education
released an FAQ on the use of funds for student transportation. The document states that the funds may be used to provide transportation for students to and from school if the need is related to COVID-19. This means the funds can be used for transporta- tion services provided directly by the school district, the cost of public transportation services, taxis, rideshare apps, or other driving services as well as compensation to parents for providing transportation services for their children. The funds can also help districts provide transportation for students participating in
after school learning enrichment activities, as well as to address the school bus driver shortage due to the pandemic. For example, a local educational agency (LEA) may use ESSER or GEER funds for
retention bonuses for current bus drivers, for salary increases, or for the cost of hiring additional bus drivers to address the shortage due to the pandemic. Similarly, if an LEA is operating more bus routes due to physical distancing, funds may be used to hire ad- ditional bus drivers. In addition, funds may also be used to pay for the costs associated with obtaining a commercial driver’s license for new bus drivers, including the required training, the FAQ states. If an LEA is experiencing challenges hiring and/or retaining school bus drivers need-
ed to transport students, ESSER and GEER funds can also be used to either reimburse parents or guardians for transportation costs or offer a stipend for transportation costs. According to school and government event aggregator Burbio, which at this report had tabulated by category over $64 billion in planned spending for at least 2,700 school districts across 45 states, ESSER III funds are planned to be spent on tutoring, trans- portation, virtual/online platform, and COVID-19 mitigation. However, despite just over 30 percent of districts planning to spend funds on transportation (the second highest category percentage-wise), less than $1 million is the average planned spending amount. Transportation is the lowest planned spending amount of the four categories, with virtu- al/online platform indicating the most amount of planned spending at over $2 million. Despite this money flowing to school districts, this month’s School Transportation
News survey found that 26 percent of 152 transportation directors who responded stated that no federal dollars from the recent stimulus packages were passed down to their departments.
View the ESSER FAQ at
stnonline.com/go/b6.
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