Boston City Council Grills BPS Over $431 Million ESSER Spending Pace and Transparency

BOSTON — March 6, 2023 — Boston City Council presses BPS on $431 million in federal COVID relief spending with a looming September 2023 deadline. The Council's Committee on Boston's COVID-19 Recovery held a roughly three-hour hearing Monday at which Chief Financial Officer Nate Cooter and ESSER Director Serena LaRoque reported that the district has expended, encumbered, or projected spending of $186 million across ESSER I, II, and III as of October 2022. Committee Chair Councillor Julia M. Mejia criticized BPS for presenting spending data five months out of date, warning that the lag is "tricky" for oversight given that ESSER II funds must be encumbered by September 2023. Councillor Erin J. Murphy questioned the legal justification for spending an estimated $166 million to fund empty school seats as enrollment declines, calling it money that "could go directly to students." BPS outlined a plan to move $15 million in ESSER-funded school positions onto the general fund while simultaneously shifting $24.5 million in enrollment-based "hold harmless" funding onto ESSER accounts — a net $9 million reduction in school budgets — as the district braces for what Cooter described as a "double cliff" of expiring federal funds and sustained enrollment decline.