Indiana Department of Education Launches Second Phase of Statewide COVID-19 Relief Spending Dashboard

The Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) yesterday day released the second phase of the statewide COVID-19 relief school spending dashboard. The newest update to the dashboard reflects the categories of spending that are budgeted and then reimbursed for all local districts.

“Indiana is one of the first states in the nation to provide a publicly available dashboard detailing categorical information about schools’ spending of these federal relief dollars,” said Dr. Katie Jenner, Indiana Secretary of Education. “Local education leaders are working hard to invest these dollars intentionally and strategically. The impactful investment of these funds continues to drive student learning, educator support, sustainable innovation, and updates to technology and infrastructure that may promote success of our Indiana students.”

Phase two of the dashboard displays categories of budgeted and reimbursed spending from local school districts’ Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds and their Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) funding. This additional local data includes a breakdown of funding focused on instruction, support services, operations, and facilities.

The dashboard reflects COVID-19 federal relief grant fund reimbursements as part of schools’ locally developed spending plans, which are focused on student learning. Grant allocations and reimbursements from the three rounds of federal ESSER funding, as well as competitive grants that were awarded to schools from federal GEER funding, are reflected in the dashboard. ESSER funding is proportionally allocated to local school districts based on the federal Title I formula. Reimbursements are made to local districts once they spend the funds on approved expenses as part of their locally developed plans.

Across Indiana, $2.8 billion in federal funding has been allocated to local school districts. Currently, more than $735 million in expenditures have been reimbursed — with school districts continuing to submit for reimbursements on allowable expenses per federal law. School corporations have through September 2022 to encumber the first round of ESSER funding and through September 2023 and September 2024, respectively, to encumber the second and third rounds of their ESSER grants.