Mayor Muriel Bowser is planning to set aside millions more in federal stimulus money than initially planned for D.C. Public Schools for next academic year, an infusion of cash that parents and education advocates are cautiously optimistic will prevent drastic staffing cuts. 

Bowser said last week she will spend an additional $14 million on the school system for the 2021-2022 academic year, promising each school will get at least the same amount of money it received this year.

That money is on top of the $80 million in recovery dollars the city already said it would spend to help schools recover from the pandemic, nearly half of which is expected to go toward academic and socio-emotional support for children.

“We are committed to using every resource available to support our students, educators, and school communities,” Bowser said in a statement. 

Communities are still figuring out what the extra dollars specifically mean for individual schools and the budget will not be finalized for several months. But the city is allowing schools to use the money to pay for staff, which is a departure from its previous stance on how the federal dollars could be spent.

In February, Bowser and D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Lewis D. Ferebee outlined the school system’s proposed spending plan. But for many schools, that money alone was not enough to keep pace with higher staffing costs and lower projected enrollment, which plays a large role in determining how much each campus receives.

The District is still in the early stages of its overall budget process. Bowser delayed plans to release her full budget proposal until later this month so the city can account for federal relief money it recently received.

Before the full budget is released, each traditional public school receives an individual budget detailing the amount of money the campus is expected to receive for the next fiscal year.

The proposed spending plans are reviewed by each school’s principal and Local School Advisory Team. It was during that review process where several schools learned they were facing steep cuts.

Over the last several months, parents, educators and budget watchdogs have pressured Bowser to increase school spending so campuses across the city would not have to shed teachers and other workers. On Thursday, Christina Henderson, an at-large member on the D.C. Council announced an emergency measure that would mandate that at a minimum the city keep school budgets level going into next year. 

Hours later, Bowser promised she would do exactly that and announced the extra $14 million in federal money. Officials say that amount is enough to meet all additional requests for money schools have submitted.

Mary Levy, a longtime budget watchdog who has studied school spending plans in D.C. for decades, said the $14 million could mean that schools will largely avoid the staffing cuts many initially feared. 

But she said the budget does not include enough money to create more positions for mental health workers, which many in the community argue is necessary to help children recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

“If this money is used appropriately, it will keep school budgets from going backwards,” said Levy. “But we’ve been through a pandemic which has traumatized a lot of students.” 

The money is a relief for many communities, but questions remain, said Qubilah Huddleston, a policy analyst for the the think tank D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute.

Because not all school communities have been told exactly how much more money they can expect to receive, it is too early to say if the money will completely fill all budget gaps. 

“This was the right and necessary thing for the mayor to do,” Huddleston said. “It’s kind of unfortunate that it took a lot of advocates, volunteers to make this happen.”  

Going forward, administrators will consult Local School Advisory Teams, a group of elected and appointed parents and educators at each campus, to determine how best to use the money, according to Ferebee.

Community members at Amidon Bowen elementary in Navy Yard were told the school would receive money for two positions it had been slated to lose, according to Betsy Wolf, co-chair of the advisory team at the school.

“I am cautiously optimistic,” she said. “We’re just so happy to get back to pre-pandemic, we’re not even thinking about advocating for more. And maybe we should.” 

Eboni-Rose Thompson said she is not yet sure what the extra money means for H.D. Woodson High School, where she is a member of the advisory team. She said she hopes DCPS will communicate that information clearly to schools. 

“We know more money is available to schools,” said Thompson, who represents Ward 7 on the D.C. State Board of Education. “I have no idea how big the hole was to begin with.”