All Michigan school districts receiving Covid relief money are required to submit a spending plan to the Michigan Department of Education and publish it online. Each plan must explain how the funds support Covid prevention strategies, overcome the impacts of lost instructional time and address the needs of all students. Districts may respond in narrative form, meaning they do not necessarily need to provide an itemized or detailed account of how they plan to use these funds.[7]
With these rather weak reporting requirements, there is wide variation in detail among district Covid relief spending plans. For example, some school districts provide quite a few details, like those in Detroit and Dearborn. These districts published their Covid relief expenditures by fiscal year and category.[*] Detroit’s seven delineated categories include bringing students back to school, maximizing safe learning, meeting the needs of students and employees, upgrading schools and facilities management. Similarly, the Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo public school districts identify Covid relief spending by both category and grant source.[8] Across those districts that share their spending plans, we see a wide variety of uses ranging from hiring a full-time nurse to overhauling HVAC systems.
Unfortunately, these districts serve as the exception and not the rule. A considerable number of school districts report only the bare minimum required by MDE.[9] These narrative responses — published by the department in a 1,000-page document — answer only four brief questions and make determining how these districts plan to spend their Covid funds difficult.[10]
Considering that billions of dollars are at stake and given the varying levels of transparency, it’s no wonder that concerned Michigan residents want to follow this money trail. News headlines report several types of queries that concerned citizens and stakeholders have made. Additional facts were requested regarding ways that the $6 billion could be spent, how schools ought to spend the money and how the funds have already been spent.
Bridge Michigan, for example, interviewed several school leaders from five Michigan communities about how their federal funds are being spent. Answers include using funds for summer school programs, electrostatic disinfection machines, purchasing technology for classrooms and for teacher training, tutoring, supporting students’ social and emotional development, textbooks, student transportation, and counselors.[11]
Overall, news outlets have highlighted the many ways Covid relief funds could be used in support of beleaguered students, schools and families. Some reports are hopeful, some are speculative, and many are highly informative.[†]
Further complicating matters, an article by Education Next highlights the fact that numerous school districts developed their spending plans before they understood the severity and nature of learning losses sustained during school closures. Districts may alter their spending plans and are allowed to conduct ex post facto revisions of their spending plans. This would allow districts that formerly prioritized things like facilities, labor costs or third-party services to combat learning losses instead. Authors Katherine Silberstein and Marguerite Roza aptly stated: “What facilities investments aren’t doing, however, is resolving gaps in learning which are at the heart of what most see as the purpose of relief funds.”[12] The bottom line is that it is difficult to tell the extent to which schools are using the billions of dollars in Covid relief to buttress their infrastructure and operational status quo versus providing additional and targeted services to struggling students.
Direct inquiries of districts on this question have not yielded much helpful information. Investigators from The Center Square issued public record requests to school districts across the state. Reporter Scott McClallen confirmed that only 25% of school districts responded to his requests.[13] Ideally, all districts would publish the amount of Covid relief expended to date, detail how the money was spent and outline intended uses for remaining funds.
After years of conjecture about how districts are spending their unprecedented relief money, enough information has accumulated to get at this question. Michigan’s Center for Educational Performance and Information has released three years’ worth of state and district-level expenditure data. Spending is categorized by fund, function and source, allowing us to pull back the veil and move beyond narratives and testimonials from school officials. These data allow us to determine how much money has been spent and more precisely understand where it is going.
[*] Dearborn makes available spreadsheets that show how the district spent each of the Covid-related federal grants it received. These are available here: https://dearbornschools.org/ budgettransparency. Detroit posted detailed plans for how it was to spend its relief funds, see: https://perma.cc/G8MW-ANA9.
[†] For examples, see: Jennifer Chambers, “Michigan’s plan for federal COVID relief funds for schools approved” (The Detroit News, Oct. 8, 2021), https://perma.cc/25LQ-CLEM; Lily Altavena, “Some Michigan schools try to steer COVID cash to athletics, security cameras” (Bridge Michigan, April 11, 2022), https://perma.cc/UYA7-A2TN; Koby Levin, “How COVID-19 cash could help Michigan schools tackle a mental health crisis” (Detroit Free Press, March 14, 2022), https://perma.cc/N92Q-7E62; Koby Levin and Ethan Bakuli, “Federal COVID relief aid to schools will dry up soon. Are districts ready?” (Chalkbeat Detroit, Feb. 17, 2023), https://perma.cc/K5BL-YFRW.