At Jackson Schools, bulk of federal COVID funds went straight to teachers

Jackson Public Schools allocated about 80% of the district’s share of federal COVID money to personnel, documents obtained by Michigan Capitol Confidential show.

Michigan schools are nearing a Sept. 30 nationwide deadline to determine how to spend COVID-19 federal funds. A detailed list of spending priorities shows how the Jackson district allocated $22 million provided by American taxpayers. CapCon received the list in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.

The category ”teaching” accounted for $10.9 million, 49% of the total. Retirement benefits took the next-largest share, with $4.1 million for employer contributions to the state retirement system for school employees. Roughly $750,000 went to the employer’s share of the Social Security payroll tax.

Health care accounted for another $1.7 million. Most of that went to group health and accident insurance. The district spent $40,263 on contributions to health savings accounts and almost as much, $40,200.00, for cash-in-lieu of insurance.

The Jackson district also spent $83,883 on workshops, conferences, and professional education of its staff, plus $17,096 on dues and fees. It is common for districts or their employees to belong to various organizations such as the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals.

Textbook purchases came to $2.8 million.

Jackson Public Schools announced early school release Aug. 24 and 26, citing excessive heat. None of the $22 million in COVID spending went to air conditioning. Portions of every building have received new or updated air conditioning infrastructure in recent years, Jeff Beal, district superintendent, told CapCon in an email.

Proceeds from a 2018 bond issue financed those improvements, Beal said, but he added that there was not enough money to install air conditioning everywhere. “Especially large buildings like Jackson High School, Middle School at Parkside, Hunt Elementary or Northeast Elementary will take a significant upgrade in HVAC simply due to the architectural constraints of the buildings,” Beal said.

The district is working with TMP Architecture and Triangle Construction on a future bond proposal, likely to appear in 2025, Beal said. Some district buildings present unique HVAC challenges, including Jackson High School, which is almost 100 years old.