Haddonfield, Haddon Schools See Federal Funding Amid Pandemic

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 Haddon Township Public School District received $1,731,323 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 $829.57 per student in the district of about 2,087 students.

The Haddonfield Public School District received $1,695,349 from the federal government. That comes out to about $622.60 per student in the district of about 2,723 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 the 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. Haddon Township received $158,094 in ESSER I funds. Haddonfield received $134,370.

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. Haddon Township received $536,325 in ESSER II funds. Haddonfield received $532,387.

CRF: Coronavirus Relief Fund, only some states used money from this fund for school purposes. Neither district received 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. Haddon Township received $1,036,904 in ESSER III funds. Haddonfield received $1,028,592.

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.