Pandemic funding for schools is drying up. For Providence, it could mean disaster

Providence Public Schools could be on its way to the edge of a fiscal cliff once emergency federal funding for education ends.

Providence received more than $200 million in Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief dollars, which were intended to help schools recover from pandemic-induced learning loss. But according to a recent briefing from Georgetown University's Edunomics Lab, come 2024 when the funding disappears, city schools will need to cut spending by 17% to cope.

"This is the kind of stuff that we just normally don't see," said Marguerite Roza, the lab's director and a research professor at the university’s McCourt School of Public Policy. "It's going to be very chaotic and districts are going to have to work really hard this winter to solve these problems."

Even as it prepares for the absence of a fiscal cushion, Providence still has more than $120 million in unspent funding on the table, which will no longer be available come the end of September next year.

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"We're really worried about a lot of Rhode Island schools," said Roza. "Kids are ... not on track. The districts have been spending their ESSER more slowly. It's the highest poverty districts we're most worried about. Reserves cannot mitigate that cliff there."

According to the Edunomics Lab, which studies education finance, 320 to 500 full-time positions could be at risk in Providence once the federal dollars dry up. Plus, with a 19% enrollment decline over the past decade, the district may need to adjust its operations to close budget holes, the lab said.

For comparison, Pawtucket, Central Falls and Newport – the only other Rhode Island districts the lab profiled – are in far less dire straits than Providence. Pawtucket is facing a 10% ESSER cliff with 15 to 30 full-time positions at risk. Central Falls is facing a 13% cliff with 35 to 55 full-time positions at risk. Newport is facing only a 2% cliff with just five full-time positions at risk.

What is Providence doing to cut costs?

Providence Public School District spokesman Jay Wegimont said it's too soon to say how next year's budget could pan out.

"On top of these challenges, we know that student need has also increased, and will continue to remain high, as a result of the pandemic and through changing student demographics (e.g., increased numbers of differently abled students, multilingual learners)," Wegimont wrote in an email. "While early and no final decisions have been made, PPSD is going through its budgeting process currently and will keep all these factors in mind."

As Roza described, the typical process for districts goes like this: Right now, they're probably looking at fiscal projections, and by winter, may begin holding work sessions to weigh what items they want to keep or toss. Finance teams then consider tradeoffs, and present them at a meeting sometime near winter's end. April will be the final point at which districts can notify staff of layoffs. Then, during the summer, boards will likely hold final votes on budgets during public meetings.

More: We compared salaries in RI's six biggest school districts. One district dominated the list.

Want a say in the budget? Don't wait to weigh in.

For members of the public, the issue is that they show up to speak out far too late in the process instead of making their voice heard early on.

"The question we often hear is, 'When do we weigh in?' And a lot of people, when they hear about cuts, will show up at this final board meeting," Roza said. "And the truth is, input at that meeting is too late. It's too late. The budget is all put together, the district generally has to pass this at a public meeting, there aren't public meetings on the schedule to do this again."

Looking to have a say in your district's budget? Don't wait to weigh in. According to Roza, most of the work gets done in the early meetings, not the final one.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Emergency pandemic funds for schools drying up - how will Providence cope?