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Millions from Missouri’s COVID-19 fund to be used on expanding K-12 educational opportunities

The state will use $55 million of the relief fund to address challenges impacting K-12 education as a result of COVID-19 which include access to internet and loss of learning during school closures.

Missouri will draw out $55 million from the state’s Coronavirus Relief Fund to expand educational opportunities for students and address two key challenges the COVID-19 pandemic has presented for K-12 education, , according to a Monday news release from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

The two challenges the funding aims to address and correct is student internet connectivity and potential learning loss during extended school closures.

COVID-19 sparked shutdowns across the nation, heavily impacting including school systems in the U.S.

While schools closed for the school year in the spring, one in five Missouri students could not access online learning opportunities due to Wi-Fi availability and/or affordability, according to the release.

On July 2, the Department of Economic Development announced it had allocated $10 million of the state’s Coronavirus Relief Fund to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to reimburse schools for costs associated with increasing student connectivity and expanding campus Wi-Fi networks for the coming school year, the release said.

The department will use nearly $20 million allocated through the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund and the Elementary and Secondary Schools Education Relief Fund state reserve to support schools in providing additional student devices. The department will also receive an additional $10 million of the state’s Coronavirus Relief Fund to create a formative assessment tool to gauge the level of learning loss – or growth – students experienced this spring, the release said.

The state is also allocating $7.5 million of the Coronavirus Relief Fund to reimburse schools for transportation expenses incurred when delivering meals to students during school closures, according to the release. Missouri families counted on this assistance, with schools serving over 19 million meals through the pandemic. 

Another $7.5 million of the state’s Coronavirus Relief Fund has been allocated to help schools cover the costs of personal protective equipment and cleaning and medical supplies for schools and buses.