NH Department Of Education Releases $33.9M In CARES Act Funds

CONCORD, NH — The New Hampshire Department of Education said Thursday that $33.9 million in grants are now available to school districts and public charter schools to offset the cost of educating children in the state during the new coronavirus pandemic.

The funding is to be used to offset costs for kindergarten through 12th-grade "educational entities" involved in remote learning. The state requested and received nearly $37.7 million for the grants. The formula for funding is based on the 2019-2020 school year Title I Part A allocations, according to officials.

"New Hampshire schools have earned nationwide praise for their transition to remote instruction this spring," said Frank Edelblut, the commissioner of the department. "But that shift came with significant disruption. The ESSER Fund will help New Hampshire schools meet the needs of each student as we plan for a safe and effective learning environment in the fall."

In order to receive the grants, each district and charter school must detail activities undertaken in response to COVID-19 and remote learning. The department is also requesting schools calculate equitable service funding under both Title 1 Part A and Title VIII, setting aside the higher amount, in case the funding formula is changed by the U.S. Department of Education.

The funding formula was first created by the Bureau of Integrated Programs but not released until Thursday. These are the minimum amounts of money that can be accessed by districts.

According to the formula, Amherst could receive more than $22,000; Bedford can access around $95,000; Concord would get nearly $954,000 — with the Merrimack Valley School District receiving almost $374,000; Exeter and the Exeter Regional Cooperative is slated to get more than $194,000; Hampton, North Hampton, and the Winnacunnet School District can access $148,000; Londonderry is slated to get about $169,000; Merrimack can tap into $392,000 worth of funds; Milford can get nearly $236,000; Nashua could receive $3.27 million; Portsmouth can access $287,000; Salem can request up to $415,000; and Windham has $29,000 to access.

Twenty-eight public charter schools in the state could receive around $516,000.

The remaining $3.8 million is being held and remains with the department for administration of funds, statewide expenses related to COVID-19, and remote instruction, according to Grant Bosse, the communications director for the department.

Gov. Chris Sununu has previously stated he wanted some of the CARES Act money set aside to assist with students who have fallen through the cracks during remote learning — while also highlighting the success of most New Hampshire students during the pandemic.

The release of the allocation came mere hours before state Democrats prepared to hold a press call being critical of how education CARES Act funds were being handled and whether money would be siphoned off to private schools.

Democrats, including gubernatorial candidate Andru Volinsky, who is the executive councilor for District 2, have been pressing Edleblut to discuss how the state would spend the CARES Act funds. The press call was scheduled for 1 p.m. Thursday with Volinsky and state Sen. Dan Feltes, another Concord Democrat who wants to be governor, demanding the money be spent on public schools and not "wealthy private schools."

The accusation that nonpublic schools might receive more money than previous funding formulas was based on an interview in May U.S. Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos had with a Catholic bishop who asked her if she thought the funds should be accessed by faith-based schools that are also dealing with the pandemic and remote learning. DeVos' answer of, "yes," and an explanation, was covered in Chalkbeat.org and has been forwarded by Democrats.

"For more than three decades that has been something that I’ve been passionate about," DeVos said according to the article. "This whole pandemic has brought into clear focus that everyone has been impacted, and we shouldn’t be thinking about students that are in public schools versus private schools."

Volinksy has been hammering Edelblut's inability to denounce DeVos' comments about nonpublic and religious schools, something he had not done, and criticizing him for not advocating for children in New Hampshire who were disadvantaged. Instead, Edelblut said the state would be using the same formulas for funding via Title I and Title II but was waiting on federal guidance "to make sure we get it correct on the front end so that we don’t jeopardize our schools."

Sununu had previously stated that he did not want to be in a situation where the federal government would attempt to claw the money back based on an incorrect allocation formula.

Editor's note: I was director of communications for the New Hampshire Department of Education between April 13, 2018, and April 16, 2019.

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