The Federal Emergency Management Agency will reimburse school districts for costs they incurred trying to prevent the spread of COVID-19, according to an . But district officials and their advocates remain confused about what the agency will pay for and what they鈥檒l have to do to get the funds鈥攅specially after some districts last year saw requests for millions of dollars of aid denied.
The agency鈥檚 new policy directly reverses guidance it issued under the Trump administration in September, which said FEMA would no longer reimburse school expenses for masks, personal protective equipment, and other COVID-19 protection efforts.
A FEMA spokesperson this week shared the new guidance with Education Week but declined to clarify the extent to which districts can be reimbursed.
Districts over the last year incurred an estimated $25 billion in costs paying for personal protective equipment, hazard pay for janitors and meals for staff, cleaning equipment, and HVAC system upgrades in order to reopen school buildings and prevent outbreaks among teachers and students.
Now, as they prepare their budgets for what鈥檚 likely to be yet another chaotic year full of costs they can ill afford, vague and wavering guidance from the agency has only deepened administrators鈥� frustrations.
鈥淨uite honestly, just tell us. I need that security which says, 鈥楧on鈥檛 plan on ever getting this money back,鈥欌�� said Susan Harkin, the chief operating officer of Community Unit School District 300 in Illinois, who applied last year for more than $5 million in COVID-related costs but has so far received approval for only $270,000 in reimbursement.
FEMA鈥檚 shifting guidance has confused administrators
The confusion stretches back to last summer, when some districts were surprised that their requests for reimbursement from FEMA were rejected. Then in September, FEMA generated controversy when, despite the pandemic being declared an ongoing national emergency, it announced that going forward it would not reimburse schools for the cost of PPE.
During his presidential campaign, Joe Biden to designate PPE and sanitation costs for schools 鈥渢o fully be eligible for federal assistance.鈥� In February he issued an to that effect.
FEMA has spent close to $17 billion on public assistance grants overall during the pandemic, according to a . But more than a year into the crisis, with school districts鈥� budget season in full swing and student needs more wide-ranging than ever, FEMA鈥檚 role in financially supporting schools remains in doubt, school district officials say.
69传媒 collectively spent billions of dollars last year on items they likely never would have expected to need: face masks, plastic shields for desks, temperature screening equipment, hand sanitizer by the bottle, and disinfectant by the bucket. Some also offered hazard and overtime pay to workers who had to be in school buildings while they were closed to students. Last fall, AASA, the School Superintendents Association, estimated the costs could run close to $25 billion.
Karen Smith, vice chair of the legislative advisory committee for ASBO International, a nonprofit association representing K-12 school budget professionals, said the agency assured districts early in the pandemic that it would reimburse them for the cost of personal protective equipment. Only later, she said, the agency changed course, narrowing that offer to health-care workers only.
鈥淲e were required to come back to work and get kids back in school. We had to be protected just as much as they do,鈥� said Smith, who also serves as assistant superintendent of business and financial services for the Cypress-Fairbanks district in Texas. She emphasized that she鈥檚 speaking on behalf of the ASBO legislative advisory committee, not her district.
Three federal stimulus packages have gone a long way for many districts toward addressing some of their short-term financial headaches. But school districts that serve a large number of low-income students got far more relief from those packages than others. And many still don鈥檛 know whether the stimulus packages were intended to replace or supplement other sources of federal support, like FEMA disaster relief.
The $5 million request from the Community Unit School District 300 in Illinois last summer included expenses like masks, electrostatic cleaning machines, and additional instructional materials and supplies so each of the district鈥檚 20,000 students could have their own set.
A few months later, the district鈥檚 application showed that FEMA had approved only $270,000, with no additional explanation. 鈥淲e try to get in contact with them and we don鈥檛 hear anything,鈥� said Harkin, the district鈥檚 chief operating officer.
This wasn鈥檛 Harkin鈥檚 first time dealing with FEMA. When her district endured a blizzard in 2011, it applied for relief and got 90 percent of its requests approved, for a total of $100,000, she said. She expected a similar process this time, and felt encouraged early in the pandemic by conversations with representatives from federal and state emergency management agencies.
Now her district is stuck waiting on clarity, even as its May deadline for next school year鈥檚 budget looms. Harkin said the lack of concrete guidance from FEMA has delayed efforts to plan the details and scope of summer school initiatives.
鈥淥ur staff are burned out,鈥� she said of the district鈥檚 teachers, who still don鈥檛 know what summer school will look like. 鈥淲e鈥檙e asking them at the last minute to do this work.鈥�
69传媒 don鈥檛 know what FEMA will cover
It remains unclear exactly which expenses, and for what time frame, schools can expect FEMA to cover.
On Monday, FEMA issued a offering full reimbursements to 鈥渟tate, local, tribal, and territorial governments鈥� and 鈥渃ertain private nonprofits鈥� on expenses like masks, cleaning and disinfection, COVID-19 testing, temperature scanning and health screening, and portable barriers for social distancing.
At one point it looked like we were going to get reimbursements, then we were told we weren鈥檛. Now it sounds like we are.
The reimbursements will cover 鈥渨ork conducted from Jan. 21, 2021 to Sept. 30, 2021,鈥� the policy says. That statement doesn鈥檛 mention schools, and doesn鈥檛 clarify whether the agency will reimburse for items purchased before those dates but used during that time frame.
A that links to the new policy mentions schools, but it notes that 鈥渇acilities that might be eligible for safe reopening and operation costs may include鈥� schools. It offers no concrete reassurance that they are or will be eligible.
An agency spokesperson declined to answer detailed questions from Education Week about whether school districts are or are not among the entities currently eligible to apply for reimbursement, which types of purchases will be reimbursed, and how new federal guidance will affect districts that already submitted reimbursement requests but were denied.
Former President Donald Trump declared the COVID-19 pandemic a on March 14, 2020. Last spring, during a series of webinars, agency representatives told school district administrators that FEMA would reimburse districts for the costs of personal protective equipment and other measures ensuring the safety of their students and workers during the pandemic.
Six months into the pandemic, the agency鈥檚 guidance shifted.
In a , a FEMA official said masks or other protective gear for K-12 schools would no longer be eligible for reimbursement 鈥渂ecause they are related to the operating of the facility,鈥� according to an NPR report. from the agency confirmed a more narrow set of expenses eligible for reimbursement. That decision prompted an outcry from groups including the National Governors Association.
Responding during his presidential campaign to FEMA鈥檚 change, Joe Biden said that, under his administration, PPE and sanitation costs would qualify as emergency expenses for which schools could get reimbursed.
鈥淚f I were president today I鈥檇 direct FEMA to make sure that our (schools) ...get full access to disaster relief and emergency assistance,鈥� he said, according to an .
Some district officials weren鈥檛 aware of the new policy announced by the Biden administration this week that specified schools as potential recipients of reimbursements until a reporter notified them.
Varied experiences, but a common thread: confusion and chaos
Michele Trongaard, who manages the budget for the 35,000-student Mansfield school district in Texas, submitted more than $5 million worth of expenses to FEMA, including overtime pay for sanitation and cafeteria workers who kept vital operations going while school buildings were closed.
She鈥檚 still waiting for the agency to review her request. But she鈥檚 felt discouraged after hearing other districts in her area have been getting as little as $100,000 back from similarly large requests.
Even districts that asked for smaller amounts have seen little in return. The Goshen Valley school district in Indiana last June submitted requests for $300,000 from FEMA but the agency has repeatedly denied the request, said Kelley Kitchen, the district鈥檚 executive director of finance. Among those expenses, Kitchen said, were $12,000 for each refill of all the hand sanitizer dispensers in the district鈥檚 nine schools.
The response was particularly frustrating, Kitchen said, because she and her staff made a concerted effort to discuss in detail the reimbursement process with FEMA grant staffers before submitting the district鈥檚 request. She initially wanted to ask for reimbursements for janitorial staff salaries, but the grant managers told her those weren鈥檛 eligible, so she left them out of the request.
鈥淲e spent quite a bit of our resources and manpower getting all that detail,鈥� she said.
Some districts did manage to squeeze out some cash from FEMA. The Pittsgrove school district in New Jersey got $18,160, which covered the costs of PPE for the limited number of staff members who had to work in the school building prior to Sept. 15. 69传媒 weren鈥檛 in the building during that time, and 鈥渁ny PPE purchased to be supplied for students specifically was not allowed,鈥� said Darren Harris, the district鈥檚 business administrator.
Harris said the FEMA representatives he encountered were helpful, and that getting the money he asked for was 鈥渘o problem.鈥�
Other districts have bypassed FEMA altogether. Harkin said some smaller districts that don鈥檛 have enough finance staffers to navigate complex federal bureaucracy decided, 鈥溾�業鈥檓 not going to worry about the federal government, I can鈥檛 count on them.鈥欌��
Kitchen said her staff has periodically had to go into quarantine due to COVID-19 exposure. 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to dedicate resources to get documentation for money that we might never see,鈥� she said.
Even districts that have successfully covered their expenses and mitigated fiscal damage have had to navigate a dense patchwork of government support and logistical hurdles.
鈥淚 think we鈥檙e kind of in a waiting game right now of trying to see if we鈥檙e going to end up receiving any of these funds,鈥� said Dan LeGallo, superintendent of the Franklin school district in New Hampshire. 鈥淎t one point it looked like we were going to get reimbursements, then we were told we weren鈥檛. Now it sounds like we are.鈥�
His district鈥檚 three schools are getting a total of $9 million from the three federal stimulus packages, exponentially more than the cost of PPE and other pandemic-related expenses for reopening school buildings, he said.
Still, 鈥渋f FEMA鈥檚 going to reimburse for these costs of PPE and cleaning supplies, that affords us more funds to direct towards the students,鈥� LeGallo said.
In Goshen Valley, Kitchen is worried that the district will be losing money because of enrollment losses just in time for the need for more investment in remediation, for example, for kindergartners who spent much of their first year of school learning remotely. Even a portion of the FEMA reimbursements she requested would help, she said.
鈥淚 hope that one way or the other they kind of solidify what we need to do,鈥� Kitchen said. 鈥淲hatever hoops they want us to jump through, we鈥檒l do it. But they have to tell us what those are.鈥�
If your school or district has tried to get reimbursed for COVID-19 expenses, we鈥檇 like to hear about your experience. Reach out to Mark Lieberman at mlieberman@educationweek.org.
