8/13/2023 0 Comments Elk grove high school covidSeveral districts initially pointed to generic reports with lump sum categories of spending posted online. Some districts responded almost immediately, providing spreadsheets with transaction-level detail and extra records to help interpret the data. If they deny a record, the requester can sue. Agencies are supposed to respond to requests within 10 days, although they can delay actual production if they need additional time to compile the records. We also asked for records from a chain of nine virtual charter schools.ĭocuments showing how governments spend taxpayer money are among the most basic available under the California Public Records Act. To begin to understand where the money is actually going, CalMatters submitted public records requests in March to more than 30 California public school districts – including the 20 biggest and 10 random districts that represent the geographic and demographic diversity of the state. Some district officials complain about an overwhelming amount of reporting requirements: quarterly expenditure reports to the state, spending plans for certain funds, special federal audits for districts that receive larger amounts of money.Įven so, the specific vendors receiving massive paydays and the actual items districts are purchasing are often a mystery, education advocates and some parents said. Four other districts, including Los Angeles Unified, haven’t said no - they just haven’t provided any records more than two months after being asked. Oakland Unified and San Francisco Unified both refused to provide spending records to CalMatters. With no central accounting for that unprecedented infusion of cash, CalMatters spent three months examining stimulus spending at select school districts. In the past two years, state and federal lawmakers passed an array of measures that allocated $33.5 billion in one-time funds to California’s K-12 schools to address the pandemic’s impacts. Some California school districts, though, simply won’t say how they’ve spent their pandemic money, courtesy of American taxpayers. Schools issued purchase orders for textbooks, counseling services and buses - all detailed in response to CalMatters’ public records requests. Redding Elementary School District spent about $1,800 on a reading intervention program.ĭistricts bought hand sanitizer from Amazon, printer cartridges from Office Depot and hot spots from T-Mobile. Long Beach Unified spent nearly $13,000 on music recorders. Some districts won’t say how they’ve spent it.īurlingame schools spent more than $300,000 on Chromebooks. Versher is going to take this next week off to stay at home with her kids, she said, and she’s got messages into her human resources representative to figure out how to handle her time off but also to seek support for the principal in her absence.California schools received more than $33 billion in COVID stimulus money. We have a 3-year-old, and we have a first-grader that we were taking on a cruise, and we just don’t want them exposed.” When you’re in a state of panic, you’re not making logical decisions. “It’s just really scary times, but we’re trying not to panic. “We canceled the cruise yesterday, and we got the alert today from the school,” said Elysse Versher, a vice principal at West Campus High School. They canceled those plans Friday after learning about the 21 positive coronavirus tests on the Grand Princess, the cruise ship now being held off the coast of San Francisco. Not only do they have a 7-year-old child in the Elk Grove school district, but they also had been planning a Carnival cruise with their children in Mexico. The spread of the new coronavirus has dealt a double-whammy to Elk Grove residents Denye and Elysse Versher.
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