Gloucester Township Schools See Federal Funding Amid Pandemic

GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP, NJ — The federal government has poured some $190 billion into the nation's schools since March 2020 to help offset the costs of coping with the coronavirus pandemic — more than four times what the U.S. Education Department spends on K-12 schools in a typical year.

About $4 billion of that total went to New Jersey schools, according to an analysis by the Associated Press.

The Gloucester Township K-8 Public School District received $11,936,891 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 $1,841.26 per student in the district of about 6,483 students.

The Black Horse Pike Regional Public School District received $6,911,904 from the federal government. That comes out to about $1,886.95 per student in the district of about 3,663 students.

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 Gloucester Township's two public school districts:

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. Gloucester Township received $842,346 in ESSER I funds. The Black Horse Pike schools received $472,694.

GEER I: The Governor's Education Emergency Relief Fund. Governors had discretion on how money was spent. Neither district received GEER I funding.

ESSER II: $54.3 billion from December 2020 congressional relief package. Distributed under federal Title I education aid formula. Gloucester Township received $3,597,426 in ESSER II funds. Black Horse Pike schools received $1,994,859.

CRF: Coronavirus Relief Fund, only some states used money from this fund for school purposes. Black Horse Pike schools received $329,327 in CRF funding, while Gloucester Township received none.

ESSER III: March 2021 congressional relief bill that provided about $122 billion to states, most of which was distributed to local education agencies. Gloucester Township received $7,497,119 in ESSER III funds. Black Horse Pike schools received $4,115,024.

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.