LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – Nearly $6 million in federal COVID-19 relief funding will be slashed for Jefferson County private schools after a court struck down the U.S. Department of Education’s interpretation of how much stimulus money they should receive.
It’s unclear exactly how much funding from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act will flow from Jefferson County Public Schools to area private schools considering the Sept. 4 decision in U.S. District Court in a lawsuit challenging the federal education agency’s rule on how stimulus funding should be shared with private schools.
That ruling, which was not appealed, nullified the U.S. Department of Education’s interpretation of the CARES Act in directing public school systems to provide CARES Act funding for private schools based on their overall enrollments rather than their enrollments of disadvantaged students who receive “equitable services” with Title I money.
The Kentucky Department of Education initially followed that guidance while other states, such as Indiana, ignored the federal interpretation of how much CARES Act money should flow to private schools.
“We are currently having internal discussions and plan to issue guidance to districts in the near future with specifics about how to resolve issues related to the change in guidance,” said Toni Konz Tatman, KDE’s communications director. The state is also waiting for responses to questions and additional guidance from the U.S. Department of Education, she said.
In Jefferson County, private schools were set to receive $5.8 million of the $35.6 million in CARES Act funding allocated to JCPS. While private schools did not get the money directly, they coordinated purchases through JCPS.
District spokesman Mark Hebert said Thursday morning that JCPS did not know how much private schools’ shares of federal stimulus funding would drop based on the federal ruling. He previously said the district was waiting for the 30-day appeal window to close Wednesday before determining final CARES Act allocations for local private schools.
U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos notified state school officials in a Sept. 25 letter obtained by Chalkbeat that her office would not challenge the ruling despite its misgivings about the court’s decision.
“The truth remains that all schools and all students have borne the pandemic’s burden and need support,” DeVos wrote. “We hope, through meaningful consultation and honest assessment, education leaders will do right by all students they serve.
“You know as well as I do that many private schools serve disadvantaged, lower income families, and it is bad for these communities when those private schools close. Not only does it place a burden on families that chose a different school for their child, but it also places a burden on public schools as well.”
JCPS has notified area private schools that their allocations have been frozen until a final determination has been made, according to Hebert and emails obtained Thursday by WDRB News. Any orders already submitted by private schools to JCPS are also under review, the emails say.
“Regarding questions about if what has already been ordered exceeds the amount of your new allocation, we are working on an answer for that – it may be part of the updated KDE guidance or it may be a decision for our district leadership, but we will ultimately have an answer for you on that question,” Staci Eddleman, director of federal and state programs for JCPS, wrote to private school leaders Sept. 30.
The situation will be clearer once KDE receives and shares federal guidance on the matter, Eddleman said, noting that she hoped to have “definitive answers” once JCPS got that input.
“I realize I’m not really providing you the information you need yet, but I wanted to go on and check in to let you know what I know at this time,” she wrote in the Sept. 30 email.
The lion’s share of CARES Act money from JCPS would have gone to the Archdiocese of Louisville under the U.S. Department of Education’s original interpretation of the stimulus package.
Catholic schools in Jefferson County, with more than 15,000 students, would have received $4.8 million from JCPS.
Cecelia Price, chief communications officer for the Archdiocese, said Superintendent Leisa Schulz was “waiting for further guidance” on the funding situation before she would comment.
A spokesman for the Christian Academy of Louisville, which has more than 1,800 students and was set to receive $583,367 in CARES Act money from JCPS, said CAL wants to help advance learning for all students in Jefferson County.
“We look forward to final decisions and appreciate the opportunity to be able to enhance the education for all students in this area,” the spokesman said.
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