Have you ever wondered how Georgia’s public-school districts spent federal COVID-19 relief dollars over the past five years?
There’s a simple way to find out. Members of the public may access this information by visiting an online dashboard, provided through the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE).
GaDOE spokeswoman Meghan Frick said that once you account for state-authorized charter schools, Georgia now has 231 public school districts. The GaDOE dashboard catalogs exactly how much taxpayer money that each of those school districts have received… thus far.
Transparency matters, especially considering that state auditors have already called out several school districts for misusing the funds.
As of January 2025, the federal government approved $7.8 billion for Georgia’s public schools. School districts have received nearly 80% (or $6.2 billion) of it.
More precisely, the dashboard informs the public about which school district got what amount for any given category, right down to the penny.
The feds gave Georgia’s 10 most heavily populated school districts more than $3 billion combined.
Finding the information about who got what and at what cost is one thing, but trying to understand what each listed category actually means and what exactly it paid for is complicated to say the least. Much of the dashboard is coded in government jargon.
Ask a GaDOE staff member for clarity and, in return, they’ll ask for a time-consuming and costly open records request. Contact the school districts that accepted this taxpayer money and ask staff members how they spent it. A few were happy to explain. Others — at least the ones who responded to one or more messages seeking comment — directed all questions back to the GaDOE.
And then there are the countless school board members from every one of Georgia’s 10 most heavily populated school districts. They were all approached to discuss their thoughts as to how their respective districts spent this money and how the spending was prioritized.
Only one person, Fulton County School Board President Kimberly Dove, granted an interview. She said the dashboard doesn’t necessarily tell the whole story.
Speaking of the GaDOE dashboard, Dove said “the state’s [information] is not as detailed as ours.”
“We completed [the necessary] forms [for the state],” Dove said.
“However, our reports are at a higher level because that is what the board requested.”
THE THREE ESSERS
The COVID-19 pandemic began in early 2020, and, as a consequence, schools closed.
This emergency prompted the feds to issue three rounds of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds for K-12 schools nationwide.
Congress set aside $13.2 billion for the first round, ESSER I (also known as the Coronavirus Aid Relief, and Economic Security/CARES Act), for March 2020 through March 2021.
Henry County Schools Chief Finance Officer Shanika Clay told her school board members in November 2023 that Georgia’s allocation was $457.2 million. The U.S. Department of Education accepted that money and distributed it to the different school districts.
ESSER II (also known as the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations/CRRSA Act) awarded $54 billion nationwide. Clay said that, for the Peach State overall, $1.9 billion was approved.
Meanwhile, ESSER III (also known as the American Rescue Plan/ARP Act) awarded $122 billion nationwide. Of that amount, Clay said Georgia was approved for $4.3 billion.
GEORGIA’S 10 LARGEST SCHOOL DISTRICTS
Going by the GaDOE’s most recent numbers, the following is a list of Georgia’s 10 most heavily populated school districts. Included is how much ESSER money they were approved for and how much they have so far received:
• Savannah-Chatham County Public School System: Student population 35,506. The district was approved for $216 million in COVID-19 relief money and has thus far received $160 million.
• Cherokee County School District: Student population 42,019. The district was approved for $77.54 million in COVID-19 relief money and has thus far received $59.73 million.
• Henry County Schools: Student population 43,171. The district was approved for nearly $120 million in COVID-19 relief money and has thus far received $88.3 million.
• The Atlanta Public Schools: Student population 49,575. The district was approved for nearly $419 million in COVID-19 relief money and has thus far received nearly $322 million.
• Clayton County Public Schools: Student population 50,733. The district was approved for $336 million in COVID-19 relief money and has thus far received nearly $271 million.
• Forsyth County Schools: Student population 55,266. The district was approved for $26.4 million in COVID-19 relief money and has thus far received $26.3 million.
• Fulton County School System: Student population 87,971. The district was approved for $373.2 million in COVID-19 relief money and has thus far received $276.6 million.
•DeKalb County School District: Student population 91,505. The district was approved for $714.3 million in COVID-19 relief money and has thus far received $503 million.
• Cobb County School District: Student population 106,580. The district was approved for $280.2 million in COVID-19 relief money and has thus far received $263.8 million.
• Gwinnett County Public Schools: Student population 183,725. The district was approved for $573.3 million in COVID-19 relief money and has thus far received $462.9 million.
THE HIGHEST PRIORITY
All 10 of the counties spent the greatest amounts of money, more than $2 billion combined, on ESSER III-LEA funds.
According to a glossary provided by Gwinnett County Schools spokesman Bernard Watson, “these funds were general in nature to address ‘learning loss,’ preparing schools for reopening, and projects to improve air quality in school buildings.”
“ESSER III funds requires that each LEA [Local Education Agency] must reserve not less than 20 percent of its total ARP ESSER allocation to address learning loss through the implementation of evidence-based interventions, such as summer learning or summer enrichment, extended day, comprehensive after-school programs, or extended school year programs, and ensure that such interventions respond to students’ academic, social, and emotional needs and address the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on underrepresented student subgroups,” according to the glossary.
The Gwinnett County Public School System was approved for, by far, the greatest amount of ESSER III-LEA funds, nearly $350 million.
“Specifically [in Gwinnett], ARP ESSER III funds were used to reopen and operate schools to effectively maintain the health and safety of students, educators, and other staff, as well as coordinating preparedness and response efforts with State and local health departments to prevent, prepare for, and respond to COVID-19,” according to the glossary.
This money also paid for, among other things, technology for online learning and new mental health services.
Forsyth County, meanwhile, received the lowest sum of ESSER III-LEA funds, slightly more than $13 million.
“This grant focused on mitigating the effects of Covid on learning by requiring 20% of the allocation to a Learning Loss set aside and the rest of the funds had to be spent on needs in the district that were a result of the pandemic,” said Forsyth County Schools spokeswoman Michele Dugan.
“Forsyth spent the 20% Learning Loss set aside on providing a K-12 summer school, continuity of transportation staff, and ERUs [Energy Recovery Units] at two schools.”
WHAT PROGRAMS GOT THE LEAST AMOUNT OF MONEY?
The 10 counties in question spent the fewest amount of COVID-19 federal relief dollars on Career, Technical, and Agricultural Education (CTAE) programs.
There’s a specific reason for this.
“The State made a reduction to the funding for our CTAE and Agriculture programs,” according to the documents that Watson sent.
“At the recommendation of State School Superintendent Richard Woods, the State Board of Education allocated ESSER-CARES Act funds to make up the difference between the programs’ funding needs and what the General Assembly appropriated for the programs.”
A few agricultural programs were approved for $13,000 or less, but many were approved for amounts ranging between $500 to $5,000.
And others got less than that… far less.
The feds, through the CARES Act, approved only $47 for one agricultural program in Clayton County and the same amount for a similar program in Cobb County.
MISUSE OF COVID-19 RELIEF MONEY
Just because the school districts get the money, don’t assume they’ll always spend it wisely.
Throughout the past few years, the Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts (DOAA) has reported several instances of public-school districts misusing COVID-19 relief money, totaling almost $1.9 million.
Last year, DOAA officials said Clarke County Board of Education officials spent more than $300,000 of ESSER money on non-allowable expenses.
Also last year, DOAA auditors said that the Telfair County Board of Education took nearly $44,000 of COVID-19 relief money and gave it out as a bonus to unspecified people who did not work for the school district. Auditors also faulted the school district for failing to have a purchase order for an unspecified item—which was acquired by spending over $300,000 of COVID relief money.
DOAA auditors have also reported that Georgia’s public school districts misused COVID-19 relief funds in Brooks, Ben Hill, Early, Colquitt, Appling, Whitfield, Atkinson, Barrow, Hall, Long, Newton, Baldwin, and Banks counties.
OTHER DETAILED INFORMATION
As Dove said, the dashboard does not tell the complete story about how the school districts spent federal COVID-19 relief dollars.
The Fulton County Schools provides its own website with detailed information, as does the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System, the Cherokee County School District, and the Henry County Schools.
