How did California schools spend billions in COVID aid?

By Robert Lewis and Joe Hong | CalMatters

Think about your boss supplying you with a verify equal to 4 months wage and telling you to spend it rapidly or threat giving it again. That in essence is what leaders in Sacramento and Washington did for California colleges after the COVID-19 pandemic abruptly shutdown lecture rooms.

The end result was a sequence of stimulus measures that allotted $33.5 billion in state and federal funds, a staggering quantity of one-time funding for the state’s cash-strapped colleges, equal to a 3rd of all the cash they received the 12 months earlier than the pandemic.

So how did they spend it? Billions have gone to issues like laptops, air filters and psychological well being counselors – cash to assist youngsters. However a lot of the funding has include restricted oversight and little transparency, in accordance with an investigation by CalMatters, a nonprofit information group.

Of the $5.9 billion native training companies have spent so removed from the most important of the stimulus funds, greater than 1 / 4 went to a class for “different” bills, in accordance with the state.

“I’m simply unsure anybody has a very good deal with on how this cash was spent,” stated John Affeldt, managing legal professional at Public Advocates who works on academic fairness points.

CalMatters spent three months analyzing faculty COVID reduction spending throughout the state, reviewing 1000’s of pages of information obtained via greater than 45 public information requests.

The information supply a novel glimpse at how faculty leaders grappled with the generational problem of COVID in {dollars} and cents. Within the East Bay, for instance, Castro Valley Unified spent most of its stimulus cash on payroll. On the Peninsula, Burlingame colleges spent greater than $300,000 on Chromebooks. In Southern California, El Centro Elementary College District spent $3.8 million to put in shade constructions for out of doors consuming, faculty assemblies and instructing area, and Lengthy Seaside Unified spent almost $13,000 on music recorders.

The information additionally reveal the opposite pandemic winners – corporations that reaped hundreds of thousands as overwhelmed districts, all of a sudden flush with money, began writing checks.

Some are established companies well-positioned to fill huge orders for items. Others are new ventures launched by savvy entrepreneurs to seize among the windfall, together with a restricted legal responsibility firm headquartered out of a UPS drop field that received a $52 million no-bid COVID testing contract in San Diego.

One chain of digital constitution colleges gave $11 million – almost two-thirds of its stimulus spending final 12 months – to the publicly traded, for-profit firm affiliated with the colleges. And a Southern California public faculty district spent $440,000 to rent an evangelical group for a program to assist at-risk youngsters.

Different information reveal clear errors or misspending. The state advised West Contra Costa Unified College District to shift almost $800,000 in unrestricted funds to reimburse its stimulus cash as a result of the district did not show sure payroll prices have been tied to the pandemic. Oakland Unified needed to reimburse almost $1 million in stimulus cash it apparently misspent on issues like business vehicles and a communication system, information present.

Some districts refused to provide CalMatters records exhibiting the place their cash goes. That features San Francisco Unified, which received greater than $186 million in federal stimulus funds.

And native academic companies nonetheless have billions of {dollars} of COVID reduction left to spend. In the event that they don’t spend it by numerous deadlines, they could need to return it.

In a written assertion to CalMatters, the state Division of Schooling stated it’s “inspired by the affect that stimulus funding is having on the scholars and colleges of California,” and that overseeing the funds is a prime precedence.

“The division has a sturdy monitoring system to make sure that (companies’) expenditures are in accordance with all relevant federal and state necessities,” in accordance with the assertion.

Nonetheless, it won’t be sufficient. The state auditor’s workplace criticized oversight in an October report, saying the state is just not utilizing the restricted information it receives to determine irregular spending patterns and scrutinize native academic companies.

“The state Division of Schooling has not taken a really lively function in managing how the cash is being spent,” stated Kris Patel, supervising auditor who led the workforce behind the October report.

Cash, cash, cash

Finally, California public colleges and charters received virtually $29 billion in federal stimulus cash. Billions extra got here from state applications lawmakers in Sacramento created.

To get a cross-section of the stimulus spending, CalMatters requested greater than 30 faculty districts for his or her accounting ledgers. These districts included the 20 largest and 10 random companies throughout a geographically and demographically numerous swath of the state.

Castro Valley Unified spent $263,000 in stimulus funds on Freedom Soul Media Schooling Initiatives, an fairness guide, and $93,000 on restorative justice consultants, information present. Santa Ana Unified gave $393,000 to Angels Baseball LP to lease out the key league baseball stadium for final 12 months’s highschool commencement festivities.

“There’s a district within the Central Coast space that purchased an ice cream truck with their cash” to provide away ice cream to youngsters caught at residence through the early days of the pandemic, stated Michael Superb, chief govt officer of the Fiscal Disaster and Administration Help Staff, a state-created group that helps fiscally troubled faculty districts get their funds so as. “After I was advised that I type of went off.”

One frequent space of spending was expertise. Some districts spent closely on laptops, scorching spots and different {hardware}, in addition to laptop applications and help to be able to make the swap to digital education when buildings shut down.

Some educators and advocates query the quantity of high-tech spending.

“Consulting corporations and training service suppliers have been actually aggressive in reaching out to districts to make use of these funds for brand new applications that they’re now creating to serve college students,” stated Amir Whitaker, senior coverage counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California.

Pandemic winners

It wasn’t simply expertise corporations that reaped huge paydays from districts flush with stimulus money. Private protecting tools distributors and companies promoting indoor air high quality merchandise received numerous offers. Companies touting COVID testing-related companies additionally have been in excessive demand.

In September 2021, San Diego Unified’s board ratified a no-bid contract with a agency known as Responsive Companions LLC – which fashioned through the pandemic in April 2020 and lists a UPS drop field in Orange County as its tackle – to run a COVID testing program. The district amended the contract a couple of months later and the settlement – which runs via July 30 – is now price as much as $52 million.

The board ratified the preliminary settlement at a September board assembly with no dialogue, a video of the assembly exhibits. The board accredited the amended settlement in January, once more, with no public dialogue.

College officers say the contract was price it for a district that’s had a very aggressive testing technique to hold colleges open – providing way more assessments and testing websites than many different districts.

Curious spending however little oversight

The California Digital Academies, a sequence of 9 constitution colleges throughout the state, have been in all probability higher positioned than most to climate the pandemic. They didn’t want to fret about social distancing or must all of a sudden work out tips on how to educate remotely. That’s as a result of they have been already instructing college students completely on-line.

So how did the digital academies use the $18 million in COVID reduction cash they spent final 12 months? Almost two-thirds of it – $11 million – went to K12 Administration Inc., a subsidiary of the publicly traded company that helps run the colleges, in accordance with information the colleges supplied to CalMatters in response to a information request. And whereas a few of that cash is listed as going to pay for computer systems and peripheral tools for college kids, $8.6 million went to “scholar course supplies” or “on-line curriculum” straight from the company, the information present.

The charters and their relationship to the father or mother company – Stride Inc., which was previously often known as K12 Inc. – have been the supply of previous authorized issues. In 2016, following an investigation by the Bay Area News Group, the state legal professional common’s workplace introduced a $168.5 million settlement with K12 Inc. over allegations the corporate and colleges misled mother and father to spice up enrollment and inflated attendance numbers.

CalMatters spoke to a number of present or former employees on the digital academies who labored through the pandemic. They stated lecturers and counselors have been overwhelmed as enrollment grew and questioned why a lot cash went to the company.

In an e mail, the corporate advised CalMatters that the state didn’t present further funding to cowl the elevated enrollment and that the company offers on-line curriculum, training supplies, a studying administration system and “a wealth of different gadgets” for college kids and lecturers.

Most districts and colleges are dealing with little scrutiny for his or her pandemic spending choices, exterior native administrative workplaces and boardrooms. Final fiscal 12 months, the state Schooling Division reviewed stimulus spending at 15 native academic companies – lower than a % of the roughly 1,700 companies that received stimulus funds. This 12 months the division is reviewing 50.

These critiques turned up quite a few crimson flags, starting from poor recordkeeping to outdated conflict-of-interest insurance policies to outright misspending.

Hayward Unified, dinged by state screens over stimulus spending in a overview final 12 months – has been in a position to resolve most of its findings with out shedding cash. State reviewers recognized six points on the faculty in fiscal 12 months 2020-21.

Nonetheless, it’s taken a very long time for the district to show to the state it didn’t mishandle cash. Districts are presupposed to resolve findings inside 45 days. As of this month, it’s been greater than a 12 months, and one discovering stays excellent.

Hayward’s assistant superintendent of Enterprise Companies, Allan Garde, wrote in an e mail to CalMatters that the district has been busy making an attempt to maintain colleges open and working, and anticipated to resolve the final of the excellent points by the tip of this month.

The gradual tempo of decision hints on the limits of state authority.