Guidance on Using COVID Relief Funding to Support School Health
In 2020 and 2021, Congress passed three stimulus bills that provided over $190 billion for education. The funding to state education agencies and local education agencies represents a historic opportunity to support student and staff health and wellness.
In addition to highlighting how state and local education agencies can use COVID-relief funding for capacity building and infrastructure, these two guidance documents detail how to access additional funding streams such as Medicaid to ensure the efforts initiated with federal funds are sustained.
This guidance highlights how state education agencies can use Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds to support student and staff wellbeing and connection. It also explains how to leverage these one-time-only funds to access additional funding streams, such as Medicaid, to ensure efforts are sustained.
Developed by the Council for Chief State School Officers, Healthy Schools Campaign and National Center for School Mental Health, this guidance provides an essential roadmap for strategic and sustainable investment that can help advance student and staff wellbeing and connection for years to come.
This guidance highlights how school districts can use COVID-relief funding to support student and staff health, including COVID-prevention, mental health and well-being, physical health and well-being, social drivers of health, physical and health education, staff and teacher wellbeing, and family engagement and community involvement.
Developed by AASA, FutureEd, Healthy Schools Campaign and Kaiser Permanente, this guidance offers concrete steps school districts can take to make data-informed decisions about investing COVID-relief funding.
