The estimated cost for an average school district in the U.S. to reopen this year amid the coronavirus pandemic is $1.8 million, or about $490 per student, according to a June 2020 report from the Association of School Business Officials (ASBO) International and the School Superintendents Association. Stacker mined that report's estimated costs; specifically, 15 different supply and staffing needs as they relate to additional needs for safe reopenings at districts around the country.
For the purposes of these estimates, the average district represented in the report has 3,659 students, 329 staff members, 183 classrooms, 40 school buses (transporting at 25% capacity), and eight school buildings, as per a Governing report examining public school districts in the 2013–2014 school year (the most recent year of data available). ASBO's calculations on school bus needs, including general fleet sizes and average pay for drivers, are based on numbers from the 2018 District Fleet Survey. Calculations on staffing and supply needs to keep schools clean and stocked with personal protective equipment (PPE) are based on analysis from the National Council on School Facilities, which held working groups about reopening during COVID-19 from April 2 to June 4, 2020.
"The additional costs to safely reopen schools are significant but will vary widely by district," Elleka Yost, ASBO's government affairs and communications manager, told Stacker, saying ASBO's projected numbers cover "some of the extra costs districts could incur for abiding by basic health and safety guidelines" without being exhaustive. Yost added that school districts around the U.S. will incur multiple other costs no matter what their reopening plan is. "This includes technology expenses to provide Internet access to students via WiFi hotspots, digital devices, and enhanced online instruction; nutrition expenses to feed students in classrooms instead of cafeterias and deliver meals to students' homes; health care expenses to provide counseling, mental health, and other social-emotional supports for students and staff; facility expenses to make necessary repairs and upgrades to improve ventilation and indoor air quality, install handwashing stations, and modify spaces to support physical distancing via partitions or dividers. The list goes on and the costs are astronomical. Districts cannot and should not bear these financial burdens alone—our students, teachers, administrators, and parents need Congress' help."
A June 2020 study from the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that an estimated 54% of public school districts need to fix multiple building systems, including 41% of districts that need to update or replace heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems. Numbers in this report further do not consider the cost of rehauling curricula to address the pandemic and potentially teach remotely, or the cost of supporting students and teachers who fall ill. All that aside, the $1.8 million baseline for added district costs runs counter to virtually all districts' annual budgeting and may prove unattainable if reopening schools doesn't come with a federal bailout. Keep reading to see the breakdown of costs for an average American school district to reopen during the pandemic.
