Arkansas lawmakers on Thursday approved the disbursement to schools of an additional $64.4 million in federal pandemic funds that had previously been held back in an effort to encourage districts to give bonuses to teachers and staff.
The latest tranche is part of a monthslong review of $500 million the state received from the American Rescue Plan Act's Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund.
In July, as part of a push for school districts to use the money for "teacher retention strategies," the state Legislative Council voted to rescind authority that had been granted to the state Department of Education to distribute the funds. The council recommended districts use the money to give bonuses of $5,000 for teachers and $2,500 for full-time classified staff.
However, state lawmakers can only recommend, not require, how school districts use the money. The council later voted to grant back $42 million for the Education Department to distribute.
The federal funds were included in the American Rescue Plan Act, passed by Congress in March 2021, to help schools reopen and address the pandemic's social, economic and academic impacts.
Reviewing the latest tranche of funds, the Legislative Council's Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review Subcommittee signed off on grants for 25 school districts. Twelve of the districts have plans to use some of the money for bonuses.
Those districts are Imboden Area Charter, Vilonia, Marked Tree, Searcy County, El Dorado, Westside Consolidated, Western Yell County, Strong-Huttig, Jasper, Deer/Mt. Judea, Harmony Grove and Maynard.
The school districts that said they could not meet lawmakers' requests are Bauxite, Arkansas Arts Academy, Pangburn, Bryant, Benton, Rogers, Mountainburg, Junction City, South Side Bee Branch, Dumas, Cabot, Wonderview and Mayflower.
Most of those districts had already spent much of their federal funds on other needs such as new buses, technology for virtual learning and facilities.
Some districts, such as Rogers, Wonderview and Junction City, have plans for bonuses, but not at the amount lawmakers recommended.
The Cabot School District used much of its funding to pay for 11 new buses and a revamped HVAC system among other facility upgrades. The Benton School District has already allocated approximately $2 million for replacing a boiler/chiller at the high school.
Legislators are close to finishing their review of how all 261 school districts plan to spend the federal funds, with only 12 districts remaining.
Arkansas has received a total of $1.77 billion in federal pandemic funds for schools that has come in several tranches.