ESSER

Indiana could get some more time to close out ESSER-funded projects. Schools can apply for an extension that would push the deadline from January to March 2026.

The Indiana Department of Education launches a database to track schools’ spending of pandemic relief funding. The state health department shuts down vaccine and testing sites during the winter storm. And statewide COVID-19 cases are down.

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.

Gary schools were in financial free fall for years as dwindling enrollment led to declines in state and federal funding. But something remarkable is happening in Gary schools: The district was awarded nearly $68 million in federal aid.

Indiana schools will get nearly $2.6 billion, targeted to those that serve more low-income students. The money offers an unusual test of whether spending more on education will improve outcomes for children.

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.

Nearly $2.6 billion in federal coronavirus relief funds is headed to Indiana schools. In rural districts where income from property taxes is low, some of that money will pay for long-delayed building maintenance.