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State education officials to seek reconsideration after U.S. Department of Education limits late liquidation of ESSER funds
Summary
Nebraska Department of Education staff said a federal change to late-liquidation policy curtailed access to previously planned ESSER spending for literacy and other projects; officials said they will pursue reconsideration and coordinate with the governor and congressional delegation.
Commissioner Maher told the State Board of Education on April 4 that a change by the U.S. Department of Education to late-liquidation rules affected Nebraska’s plans to spend federal ESSER (pandemic relief) funds and forced an immediate stop to some contracted work.
Maher said the NDE had requested late-liquidation flexibility for $20,200,000 and that about $9,000,000 of that request remained after the federal change — an amount he described as roughly 1.6% of the state’s ARP/ESSER allocation. He said the change affected 21 contractors working across multiple projects and cited literacy initiatives specifically, including the UNL Words project, the UNO literacy workshop and the Nebraska Growing Readers Project as among those disrupted.
The department began seeking clarification and instructed affected contractors to stop work after receiving a notice the week of March 28, Maher said. He told the board the agency would pursue reconsideration of the federal decision and that he would reach out to the governor’s office and Nebraska’s congressional delegation while continuing consultations with U.S. Department of Education staff.
“We received notification ... that the late liquidation was going to be changing,” Maher said. “We began seeking clarification to notify our contractors that they must stop work.” He called the agency’s prior approach “prudent” and said the department had been using data to prioritize literacy and other projects rather than spending funds hastily.
Board members asked about geographic reach and contractor impact; Maher said the literacy work reached from “border to border,” with projects in Omaha and Scottsbluff among those named. He described the department’s next steps as seeking reconsideration, consulting with the governor’s office, and engaging the congressional delegation and U.S. Department of Education staff to identify options.
Maher emphasized that the department’s literacy goals and priorities had not changed despite the federal action, and that NDE would continue efforts “to the extent that we can.” He said staff would keep board members informed before taking formal steps that require board action.
Ending: The board did not take a formal vote on the item; Maher said the department would follow up with the governor’s office, Nebraska’s congressional delegation and federal officials and would keep the board informed as reconsideration efforts proceed.
