On May 12 Senator Roland Gutierrez (D-Bexar) announced the release of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief, or ESSER, funds from President Joe Biden’s recently signed American Rescue Plan. Around $887 million will be brought into Senate Dist. 19 counties to help public schools recover from losses in student learning and costs due to the pandemic.

“Thanks to President Biden, the State of Texas is working to make sure our public schools have the resources they need to help students rebound from learning setbacks due to COVID. The divisions in our education system are already great enough. We must work hard to make sure that the pandemic does not become a generational education crisis for our children,” Gutierrez said. “We made a big commitment to students and teachers in 2019 with the passage of HB 3, including teacher pay raises and school finance reforms. These funds are going to help us continue to deliver on that promise.”

Brewster County schools received a total allocation of $2.384 million, with Alpine ISD receiving $1.67 million, Marathon ISD $15,736, and Terlingua CSD $702,794.

“Local schools went above and beyond to accommodate distance learning and COVID-19 protocols, in many cases losing out on significant revenue in attempt to keep our kids safe,” Gutierrez continued. “As we move forward toward recovery, we must make sure we are providing a quality educational system for students, teachers, and staff. We will overcome this aspect of the pandemic, and move ahead with making our education system even better.”