By Madeline Nguyen | Cronkite News
The Arizona Department of Education is scrambling to urge schools to tap millions of dollars earmarked to help homeless students before the funds expire at the end of the month.
Three years ago, Arizona schools were allotted nearly $17 million in federal COVID-19 pandemic relief funds intended to provide resources ranging from temporary housing and transportation to prepaid debit cards.
Nearly a quarter of that has gone unused, according to the most recent ADE data.
Numerous school districts contacted by Cronkite News said they were unaware of the aid or learned about it only recently.
State education officials concede that the information wasn’t always communicated to the right personnel and are trying again ahead of the Sept. 30 deadline.
“We’re doing everything we can to make sure the money is spent,” said state Superintendent Tom Horne in an interview. Horne said his agency’s efforts include “nagging” schools by phone to rectify what he called a “breakdown of communication.”
Nationally, nearly $315 million out of $800 million in homeless aid remained unused, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Funds to support homeless students were set aside for 98 of more than 200 school districts in Arizona, plus about 50 public charter schools, ADA records show.
