Education Funding In Their Own Words

This Superintendent’s Tiny, Rural District Got No COVID Aid. Here’s Why That Hurts

By Mark Lieberman — September 06, 2022 3 min read
Long Lake Superintendent Noelle Short in front of Long Lake Central School in Long Lake, N.Y., on Sept. 1, 2022.
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Noelle Short is the superintendent of the Long Lake Central school district in upstate New York, comprised of a single K-12 school building that serves fewer than 100 students. Her district was among a small but notable percentage of districts around the country that did not receive any federal COVID-relief funds.

Here’s the reason Long Lake was left out: Congress allocated three rounds of COVID relief funds to districts based on their annual share of Title I aid for schools with high-need students. But Long Lake doesn’t doesn’t receive Title I aid, so it didn’t get a piece of the COVID assistance pie.

Short explains why the omission of the one-time emergency funds intended to help schools cope with the pandemic and its aftermath makes her concerned about future emergencies and frustrates her about what her school will never be able to offer its students. The following interview, conducted by phone in August, has been edited for length and clarity.

Hamilton County is the most geographically vast county in New York state, and the most sparsely populated, with a large elderly population and a lot of state land. There are four one-school districts, with comparable communities in terms of wealth ratio, lake homeowners. Two out of the 4 schools received quite a bit of the federal COVID funding [through the Title I formula]. Two out of the 4 schools, including ours, did not.

Our student enrollment is never going to be more than 100 kids. It’s been pretty stable for the past 15 years. Close to 40 percent of my student population, the year-round residents, qualify for free and reduced-price meals. [The district doesn’t receive Title I aid for those students due to technicalities in the funding formula that put small, rural districts at a disadvantage.]

We’re probably the most rural, remote school in all of New York state. The nearest school district is 20 miles in either direction. We’re close to Lake Placid, in the Adirondacks. It’s a beautiful, wonderful place to live.

The summer population quadruples the year-round residents’ population. If you came today, you would see the streets lined up, the restaurants are super busy. You come back in the winter, and it’s a different place.

Our community is really supportive of our school. My dad went to school here. We’re always living within our means. We have one English teacher for 7th through 12th grade, one elementary teacher per grade level.

I haven’t been able to look ahead to think about what I could have to make my building better for students and staff because it’s not an option.

I absolutely understand, if the federal government has a lot of money, they have to figure out a way to get it out quickly. There was no intention of leaving anyone out. It just goes to show, if we’re going to start funding schools for things that every school should have, no one should be left out.

I had to tell this story so many times, and no one had a clue—our state representatives, [U.S.] senators. Then it became too late because it literally would have taken an act of Congress to change how the funding was allocated.

Jennings Park Pond sits adjacent and ten feet above Long Lake in Long Lake, N.Y., Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022.

The COVID thing was infuriating because I have superintendent colleagues who are surrounding me who have the same makeup in their communities as I do. They didn’t know how to spend all the money that they got.

I have an old building with old heating systems. I have neighbors who were able to install generators. We need better classroom technology, when you start to think about COVID learning loss. I would love to hire a school resource officer, an additional social worker. I don’t have that luxury.

We did eventually receive reserve funds from the state. We were able to reserve some of that to offset new curriculum projects. It was a smaller amount of money to what our neighbors got, and there were more restrictions for what it could be used for.

I don’t want by any stretch of the imagination to sound ungrateful. It was a response, which was excellent. But there’s going to be another time when Title I is going to be used to face the next big emergency.

It happened with COVID. It’s going to keep happening. What happens if they use the Title I funding to fund school security? Some get infrastructure for security systems and some don’t?

A version of this article appeared in the September 21, 2022 edition of Education Week as This Superintendent’s Tiny, Rural District Got No COVID Aid. Here’s Why That Hurts

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Science Webinar
Making Science Stick: The Engaging Power of Hands-On Learning
How can you make science class the highlight of your students’ day while
achieving learning outcomes? Find out in this session.
Content provided by LEGO Education
Teaching Profession Webinar Key Insights to Elevate and Inspire Today’s Teachers
Join this free half day virtual event to energize your teaching and cultivate a positive learning experience for students.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Student Achievement Webinar
Student Success Strategies: Flexibility, Recovery & More
Join us for Student Success Strategies to explore flexibility, credit recovery & more. Learn how districts keep students on track.
Content provided by Pearson

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Education Funding Does Money Matter for Schools? NAEP Scores Reopen the Debate
A provocative set of graphs has kicked off a debate over whether—and how—more money can improve student outcomes.
11 min read
Contemporary art collage. One hand holding graduation cap, other - stack of coins. Finical aid for education, investment in knowledge. Concept of financial literacy, success, study loan, school credit
iStock/Getty Images
Education Funding Dozens of Head Start Programs Still Aren't Receiving Promised Federal Funds
Some providers of pre-K and child care have waited more than a week for federal reimbursements that typically arrive in 24 hours.
11 min read
Two 5 year old children sitting at a table in preschool playing with colorful toys. The boy is connecting flexible tubes, and his friend, a girl, is wearing a crown made of tubes her head.
E+/Getty
Education Funding Trump Spending Freeze Hits Roadblocks: How Schools Are Coping With Chaos
The Trump administration appeared to halt the planned funding freeze, but district leaders remain cautious.
6 min read
President Donald Trump speaks in Emancipation Hall after the 60th Presidential Inauguration, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington.
President Donald Trump speaks in Emancipation Hall after the 60th Presidential Inauguration on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. His administration's order to pause potentially trillions of dollars in federal spending this week sent school districts scrambling to figure out which funds might be halted.
Al Drago/AP
Education Funding Trump’s Federal Funding Freeze Was Blocked. But Confusion Among Schools Remains
The order sent school districts and others scrambling to determine which federal funds for schools could be stopped.
9 min read
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in Washington.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks with reporters at the White House, Jan. 28, 2025, in Washington. She spoke about a pause in federal funding the Trump administration ordered this week as it reviews grants and programs to determine whether they violate executive orders cracking down on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, as well as "gender ideology."
Alex Brandon/AP