On Tuesday, April 28, Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) Superintendent Robert W. Runcie joined Tuesday, April 28, Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) Superintendent Robert W. Runcie joined superintendents from 61 other large school districts across the nation in sending a letter to Capitol Hill, through the council of the Great City Schools (CGCS), expressing the need for federal funding to offset the financial impact districts are incurring as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

As BCPS remains committed to supporting the educational needs of our students and families, SuperintendentRuncie says the $13 billion in K-12 funds provided by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act was an important first step, but more needs to be done.

“Congress must act and allocate additional funds to safeguard our classrooms and our teachers from potentially unprecedented budget cuts,” Superintendent Runcie said. “Congress has only allocated a third of the funding it provided toward education during the Great Recession, and this economic downturn has the possibility of being far worse and reducing our budget by up to 25 percent.

”BCPS, like many other school districts, has faced unexpected costs in providing nutritional support services to students and their families, as well as providing ongoing technology equipment and support as school closures forced a shift from school-based instruction to distance learning.

In the letter to Congress, CGCS urges lawmakers to approve new federal funding in the coronavirus supplemental appropriations bill for schools, including $175 billion in Educational Stabilization Funds to be distributed at the local level through the Title I formula, $13 billion for the Individual with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), $12 billion in additional Title I program funding, $2 billion for E-Rate and emergency infrastructure funds that include public schools.