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District grants update: $173.5M overview, ARP ESSER extension remains pending
Summary
The district reported roughly $173.5 million in grants for 2024–25 and said a pending federal decision could affect about $11.5 million in ARP ESSER liquidations; state Alliance grant funding and other federal programs were also summarized.
The Waterbury Board of Education received a grants status briefing on May 1 that summarized federal, state and miscellaneous grant funding for the 2024–25 school year and highlighted uncertainty around a pending federal decision on ARP ESSER liquidations.
Doreen and Linda Riddick Baron told the board total grant awards for the fiscal year were presented as $173,500,000. The district said federal grants collectively totalled about $62,500,000; within that amount, approximately $29,100,000 to $30,000,000 was identified as ARP ESSER (ESSER 3) funding that previously had a September 30, 2024 liquidation deadline.
Staff said they had applied for an extension and that the state Department of Education had asked the U.S. Department of Education for flexibility. District staff submitted a revised worksheet at the state’s request and said they are waiting for the federal agency’s decision on the remaining extension request; they specifically mentioned $11,500,000 as an amount still under review with federal authorities.
The briefing also outlined large state grants, including a reported Alliance Grant figure of about $76,000,000 that the presenters said supports priority schools; the presenters noted that some schools are being removed from turnaround funds as they meet improvement targets. Presenters tied some program spending to local initiatives: for example, Early College High School tuition and lunch support were described as funded from a Title IV allocation, and parent-liaison salaries were described as funded through Title I set-asides.
Commissioners asked whether funds that expire will be exhausted; staff said funds with expiration dates would be drawn down as appropriate and that some grants will continue into subsequent years. Presenters also noted several federally funded programs that include carryover provisions such as IDEA and Title I, which are commonly administered with multi-year carryover accounting.
The transcript records the grant totals and the extension request discussions but does not include detailed line-item budget schedules in the public excerpt. Presenters recommended continued monitoring and noted that the district’s federal-state grant portfolio supports staffing, summer mental-health clinicians and other programmatic items included in the May agenda.
