About 275 staffers in the Arlington Independent School District will be out of a job at the end of the school year as the district cuts positions funded by expiring ESSER grants.
ESSER funds are U.S. Department of Education dollars distributed through three Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief grant programs. The last COVID-era ESSER grant is being sunset this year.
The grants were created to help districts recover from learning loss caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and they funded jobs that included a mix of teachers, tutors, and other mental health professionals. Arlington received $134 million they used to provide everything from tutoring to extra help teaching core classes.
The money from the grants has been exhausted and the district said they can't afford to keep the staff in place without the pandemic dollars.
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The Arlington ISD said they've asked all affected staff members to reapply for other open positions in the district.
The layoffs in Arlington are similar to what was recently reported taking place in the Fort Worth ISD.
