Maryland school officials said they are confident they will able to obligate almost $780 million in federal funds in the next 10 days – money that will have to be returned to the federal government if they don’t.

The funding is part of $1.95 billion Maryland received in use-it-or-lose-it pandemic-relief funds for schools from the American Rescue Plan’s Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief, or ESSER, program. As of this week, Maryland had spent 60.7% of the total, for $1.18 billion.

Maryland’s rate of obligating its funds is one of the lowest in the nation, ahead of only Nebraska and the District of Columbia, according to a U.S. Department of Education dashboard.

In a letter to all states dated Sept. 10, Laura Jimenez, director of state and grantee relations in the department’s ESSER Office, reminded grantees that they have until Sept. 30 to report on how they will commit to draw down the remaining money. States have until Jan. 28, 2025, to liquidate, or spend, the money, but can also request an extension to March 2026.

That’s what Maryland has done and will do, said Krishna Tallur, deputy state superintendent for the state Department of Education’s Office of Finance and Operations.

“We believe that all of the funds will be obligated by the deadline and liquated by the extended deadline,” Tallur said in an interview earlier this month.

The federal dashboard still shows that Maryland spent 59.4% of its allocation, but Tallur said that the number as of July, the most recent available, was actually 60.07%.

But if the state doesn’t obligate that money, then it goes back to the federal government.

“At the end of the day, our kids cannot afford for this money to just disappear. This is tax money, right?” said Tracie Potts, executive director of the Eisenhower Institute at Gettysburg College, which released a report last month on ESSER funding.

The pandemic-era relief money in this third and final round can be used for a variety of needs and services such as summer enrichment programs, upgrades to facilities and mental health support.

“Federal funds just don’t come out of the air,” Potts said in an interview. “This is money that was designated for our kids to catch up. The question becomes, ‘What are we going to do with it?’”

Her institute’s report, “Building America: Reinventing Education Funding Education in Maryland During and After the Pandemic,” was completed last fall with data updated through January 2023. The state Department of Education updated a source file last month on what districts spent in federal pandemic-era funding.

The report offers recommendations for school district officials to invest and evidence-based strategies to address pandemic learning recovery such as community school and summer learning programs. It also highlighted high-impact tutoring, which will be done this school year in Baltimore City.

Potts said research has shown it’s best for high-impact tutoring to take place during the school day in small groups and done several times a week.

“Number one, more than likely you’ll be able to get the teachers because they’re already there,” she said. “There are additional costs when we keep kids after school and try to get them there before school. If transportation is not provided, then only the kids who have somebody at home and who’s not working…can pick them up. So that’s an equity issue.”

Except for the District of Columbia, which had allocated just 44.4% of its funding, according to the federal dashboard this week, all of Maryland’s other neighbors had obligated or spent significantly larger share of their ESSER funding:

• Delaware reported spending 83.1%, with $69.5 million left to obligate;
• West Virginia has allocated 79.8%, with $153.9 million left;
• Virginia spent 77.1%, and had $484.4 million left;
• and Pennsylvania had spent 77% money, with $1.1 billion left to obligate.

While Nebraska and D.C. were at the bottom among states, having allocated 56% and 44.4% respectively, Hawaii and Washington state had allocated the largest share among states. Hawaii has spent 93.7% of its $412.5 million, and has $26.2 million left, while Washington had $169.5 million left, having spent 90.9% of its $1.85 billion total.

California received and spent the most, getting $15 billion and spending $12.3 billion, or 81.5%.

Del. Bernice Mireku-North (D-Montgomery), who serves on the House Ways and Means Committee, said she didn’t know about the upcoming deadline, or amount left. But she said federal dollars have helped to address pandemic challenges such as food insecurity and laptops for children in her jurisdiction.

“We will continue our commitment to a world-class education for our children, by making sure they have the resources they need around the state,” she said in an interview Aug. 30. “There’s going to be a point for us to consider how we’re going to fund them once federal money goes away. We’ll continue to work together as a legislature to find the right steps that the gains from those federal resources aren’t lost.”

The Campaign for Grade Level Reading will host an online discussion Tuesday from what some state education officials learned in applying the ESSER funding to their schools as the “looming ESSER funding cliff” approaches.