Last month, the 2024 Nationwide McKinney-Vento Study was released, offering fresh insights into how schools are addressing the needs of their most vulnerable students.
This comprehensive study highlights the impact of federal funding and support, specifically targeting homeless students under the McKinney-Vento Act.
In this blog, we’ll examine new insights into how districts in this survey used American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds to support their McKinney-Vento eligible students.
One of the major topics of both this year’s and last year’s National McKinney Vento Studies has been American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds. ARP was passed in March 2021 and provided $122 billion to K-12 education institutions. Two major deadlines associated with ARP are approaching. The deadline to obligate is 9/30/2024, and the deadline to liquidate is 1/28/2025.
Out of the study’s respondents, 26% reported that they “did not receive ARP funds.” For those who did receive funding, 36% stated they used funds to provide “better access to services for McKinney-Vento students,” 25% stated they used the funds to provide “new services to assist McKinney-Vento students,” and 13% said they used ARP funds to provide “more personnel to help McKinney-Vento students.”
Of the respondents who did receive ARP funds, 21% are large districts (10,000+ students). Fifty-three percent of those districts that received funds serve fewer than 100 McKinney-Vento eligible students.
Of the respondents who serve more than 100 McKinney-Vento eligible students, most (83%) chose to use funds to provide better access to services or add new services. Twenty-six percent of respondents who serve more than 100 McKinney-Vento eligible students stated they used funds to add “more personnel to help McKinney-Vento students.”
One of the challenges that districts face with the funds expiring is the inability to actually spend all of their ARP funds by the deadline. In our survey, we found that 12% of respondents stated they would not be able to obligate the funds by September 30. Percentages varied across the United States, but 11 states had higher percentages than the national average.
However, when asked whether their district could do more to support their McKinney-Vento students, a resounding 81% said that there was more that they could be doing. This aligns closely with last year’s results, when 80% of respondents expressed a similar perspective.
One-third of the respondents from the state of Georgia said they would not be able to obligate all of the ARP-HCY funds by the deadline — by far the highest percentage across the U.S. Other states with high percentages included South Carolina, Florida, Ohio, Michigan, Colorado, Illinois, Washington, Indiana, Iowa, and Texas.
Below is a breakdown of the percentages in the states with results higher than the national average.
The 2024 Nationwide McKinney-Vento Study provides valuable insights into how schools utilize ARP funds to support their most vulnerable students, yet it also highlights ongoing challenges. With significant percentages of districts unable to obligate all funds before the upcoming deadlines, the need for continued focus on these at-risk populations is clear.
As the number of McKinney-Vento students rises, it’s easy to become overwhelmed with managing the data and meeting compliance requirements. Student SupportTracker can help you by:
Interested in a personal tour of Student SupportTracker? Schedule a demo and let us show you how our solution can save you valuable time while also making it easier for you to make a difference in the lives of these students.