Chippewa Valley School Districts Brace for End of Pandemic Funds

Chippewa Valley School Districts will need to contend with the loss of emergency relief funding it received during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Funding through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief program is set to expire at the end of September. The funds were authorized under the CARES Act and American Rescue Plan Act, and have provided critical funding for school districts across the state in recent years.

According to a WQOW report, the Eau Claire Area School District used $12 million from the latest round of funding through the program for school psychologists, social workers, counselors, and academic coaches. The Chippewa Falls Area Unified School District used $5 million to continue funding its existing programs.

When that funding expires, school districts across the Chippewa Valley will once again be forced to turn to their communities with ballot referendum questions. Voters in the Chippewa Falls Area Unified School District already passed a three year, $2.5 million referendum to fill their budget gap going forward. The Eau Claire Area School District is proposing an $18 million referendum to address their budget issues.

School districts across the state have struggled with the expiration of Covid-era funding, citing the loss of that funding, rising inflation, and declining enrollment as the root causes of their budget concerns. In April’s election, there were a total of 93 school referendum questions asked on ballots across the state. 57 of those questions were approved by voters, and districts that were unable to get their referendums approved were often forced to make program cuts and layoffs.