Dear Colleagues:
It’s a big week in the middle of February! We started the week off with Valentine’s Day, followed by Mardi Gras, and pitchers and catchers report to spring training. Hopefully, this finds all of you safe and snug with all the difficult weather patterns so many have experienced across the country, but the special days of the past week make me feel like spring is in the air.
EANS continues to be rolled out across the country. As I noted in my last blog, the deadline for Governors to apply to the U.S. Department of Education was extended to February 22. This should give states time to get their systems in order before the “clock” starts ticking for the requirement to obligate funds within 6 months of receiving them. Previous blogs have reviewed what it means to “obligate” funds and how that is not the same as spending those funds.
The U.S. Department of Education updates their list of states that have been approved for EANS. You can find it on the EANS page for www.ed.gov. As I write this, 21 states have been approved. Usually, the state receives its award in a few days after an approved application.
Here is the EANS timeline once again for your reference:
As you’re aware, in order to write a reasonable application for use of funds, it’s important to have at least an estimate of the funds that would be available to your school. Some states are putting out estimates for planning purposes. In an effort to try to project what funding might look like for those who have not been provided with a planning guide, we’ve been analyzing the data on award size and using National Center for Education Statistics estimates on number of private school students by state. While this does not claim to provide each state’s actual per pupil allocation, these calculations do provide a ballpark for initial planning purposes. According to these calculations, the national average for per pupil allocation for EANS is $519. The state per pupil allocations range from $197 per pupil to $1984 per pupil—quite a range! Hopefully, when your state application is made available, there will be an estimation by your state on the estimated per pupil allocation in your state. If not, this may be something you want to ask your ombudsman to provide for planning purposes. If your actual state-specific information is not available, the national estimate of $519 per pupil might be a good starting point. Also, these calculations assume full participation in EANS; these allocations should increase when a proportion of private schools do not participate in EANS but instead apply for PPP.
Finally, let me urge you once again to complete the information in the U.S. Department of Education’s sample application since it contains the legal requirements that each state must collect. While the EANS application in your state may look somewhat different, the information listed on the sample application will definitely be a part of each state’s application. You can find the application on the EANS page for www.ed.gov.
Stay safe and stay warm!
All the best,
Michelle L. Doyle
EANS page for www.ed.gov can be found at https://oese.ed.gov/offices/education-stabilization-fund/emergency-assistance-non-public-schools/. Check it out for FAQs, updated awards information, sample application, and other useful information.