Some schools using COVID aid on sports
Exercise companies in certain areas say they’re seeing increased demand
IOWA CITY, Iowa – One Wisconsin school district built a new football field. In Iowa, a high school weight room is getting a renovation. Another in Kentucky is replacing two outdoor tracks. All were funded by the billions of dollars in federal pandemic relief Congress sent to schools this year.
The money was part of a $123 billion infusion intended to help schools reopen and recover from the pandemic. But with few limits on how it can be spent, The Associated Press found that some districts have used large portions for athletics projects they couldn’t previously afford.
Critics say it violates the intent of the legislation, which was meant to help students catch up on learning after months of remote schooling. But schools argue the projects support students’ physical and mental health, one of the objectives allowed by the federal government.
Rep. Bobby Scott, the top Democrat on the U.S. House education committee, said the money shouldn’t be used to fund athletics at the expense of academics.
“The purpose is clear: It’s to open safely, stay open safely and deal with learning loss,” Scott said. “These are targeted resources needed to address the fact that a lot of children just didn’t achieve much for about a year.”
In some parts of the country, exercise companies say they’re seeing surging demand from schools eager to spend their pandemic relief. Some companies are contacting coaches and superintendents to suggest upgrades.
It’s impossible to know exactly how many schools are using the federal money on athletics. Districts are required to tell states how they’re spending the money, but some are using local funding for sports projects and then replacing it with the federal relief – a maneuver that skirts reporting requirements.
The funding was part of the American Rescue Plan signed in March by President Joe Biden that sent money to schools, giving larger shares to those with higher poverty. Schools have wide flexibility in how they use the money but only three years to spend it, a deadline that has led some to look for quick purchases that won’t need funding after the federal money is gone.
When school officials in Whitewater, Wisconsin, learned they would be getting $2 million in pandemic relief this year, they decided to use most of it to cover their current budget, freeing up $1.6 million in local funding that’s being used to build new synthetic turf fields for football, baseball and softball.
Athletics officials in the district of 1,800 students said the project was needed to replace fields that are prone to heavy flooding.
Two school board members objected, with one raising concerns that just $400,000 was being used to address student learning loss – the minimum to meet a federal requirement to use at least 20% for that purpose. The board approved the plan, and the new football field opened in September.
In the Roland-story Community School District in Iowa, there were no objections when the school board voted in May to use $100,000 in pandemic relief on a high school weight room renovation. That allowed the district to double its weightlifting platforms to 12 and add new flooring with customized school branding.