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Indiana schools are about to be flush with cash from the federal government after two major spending bills passed through Congress in December 2020 and in March 2021.
The allocations from the March round of funding are still preliminary, but the federal aid is expected to total nearly $2.6 billion. School districts have several years to spend the money — the earliest spending deadline is in 2023, but some of the money doesn’t have to be spent until the end of 2024.
The amount each school district will receive is based on federal Title I funding, which is determined by the number of children from low-income families. The amounts schools will get vary widely — several schools are expected to receive less than $130,000, while the two largest districts are expected to receive more than $145 million each.
Some of the funding must be used for specific purposes, such as learning loss programs, but otherwise schools can spend the money on a variety of uses. Eligible expenses include obvious pandemic-related costs, like sanitization and personal protective equipment, but other costs like school facility improvements, mental health services and technology are also allowed.
The searchable database below shows the total each public school district, charter school and adult high school in Indiana is receiving from the two federal spending packages and how much that amounts to per student in the district.
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