Cherry Hill Schools See $12.6M In Federal Aid Amid Pandemic

CHERRY HILL, NJ — The Cherry Hill Public School District has received $12,617,909 from the federal government to help offset the costs of coping with the coronavirus pandemic, according to a recent analysis from The Associated Press. That comes out to about $1,148.13 per student in the district of about 10,990 students.

It’s part of about $4 billion that has been pumped into the New Jersey school system since the pandemic began in March 2020. Altogether, the federal government has poured some $190 billion into the nation's schools since March 2020, more than four times what the U.S. Education Department spends on K-12 schools in a typical year.

Relying on data published or provided by states and the federal government, the AP also tallied how much money was granted to nearly every school district in the state and country.

The AP tracked more than $156 billion out of the $190 billion sent to states to distribute among schools since last year, including general pandemic relief that some states shared with their schools. Some districts will receive sums amounting to 50 percent or more of the cost to run their schools for a year.

The aid averages nearly $2,800 per student nationwide, but it varies widely by district and state, according to the AP's analysis.

The AP did not provide state-by-state per-pupil figures, except to note that districts in Louisiana and the District of Columbia averaged more than $2,100 per student, while those in Utah received a little more than $400 each. Nationwide, high-poverty areas received much more under the funding formula.

Not all states have allocated all their funding. In some areas, charter school and/or private schools funds flow through public school districts. Here’s how the funding broke down for Cherry Hill schools:

ESSER I: The Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund, which included $13.2 billion from the March 2020 CARES Act. Distributed under federal Title I education aid formula. Cherry Hill received $1,009,386 in ESSER I funds.

GEER I: The Governor's Education Emergency Relief Fund. Governors had discretion on how money was spent. Cherry Hill received no GEER I funding.

ESSER II: $54.3 billion from December 2020 congressional relief package. Distributed under federal Title I education aid formula. Cherry Hill received $3,771,236 in ESSER II funds.

CRF: Coronavirus Relief Fund, only some states used money from this fund for school purposes. Cherry Hill received no CRF funding.

ESSER III: March 2021 congressional relief bill that provided about $122 billion to states, most of which was distributed to local education agencies. Cherry Hill received $7,837,287 in ESSER III funds.

See the full list of schools compiled by the AP.

Editor's note: This post was generated using data from the Associated Press. Rich Scinto, Patch Staff, contributed to this report.