The purpose is to bolster hiring and retention as schools enter their third year of grappling with the pandemic.

In extending the order for a 23rd time, Holcomb cited the state’s high rate of infection and pointed out that the vast majority of people being hospitalized with COVID-19 aren’t vaccinated.

Indiana schools received a total of $2.8 billion in federal dollars through three rounds of stimulus. All of the aid is known as Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief, or ESSER, and it must be spent by late 2024.

Indiana schools received nearly $3 billion in pandemic relief. They are required to post plans for how they will use at least some of that money. This database links to those plans.

Indiana schools are getting nearly $3 billion in federal coronavirus relief to help safely operate and make up for the instruction students missed out on. But public information on how local districts are spending it is inconsistent and often hard to find.

Only 18 percent of Marion County educators are teachers of color, compared to the 66 percent of non-White students. But a federal grant recently awarded to the Beech Grove City Schools district could help increase the number of teachers of color and improve student learning.

As students begin to transition back to school following two academic years riddled with classroom disruptions, districts are flush with federal cash. To help the tens of thousands of students who have fallen behind academically, some districts, including KIPP Indy Schools, have turned to tutoring services.

Indianapolis Public Schools is asking for input on how it will spend some of its more than $200 million in federal funding to address the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in schools.

Indiana school leaders are offering bonuses to their staff as tokens of appreciation after an intense and unusual school year, but teachers say it's not a substitute for long-term sustainable increases to their pay.

Federal COVID-19 relief funding is providing K-12 schools with an influx of critically-needed cash, but millions of dollars are also providing support for early childhood education. Part of the funding will go toward a child care scholarship program for essential workers in the state.