The Department released the requirements for EANS II and updated FAQs. The two main differences between EANS I and EANS II (also known as ARPA EANS) is that no reimbursements are allowed under EANS II and the eligibility criteria for interested nonpublic schools is much tighter—only schools that “enroll a significant percentage of low-income families and are most impacted by COVID-19" may participate. Other than these two changes, all other requirements and rules (including eligible uses of funds) from EANS I will apply to EANS II. This includes the restrictions around PPP and EANS—schools cannot receive EANS II funds if they received a PPP loan after December 27, 2020.
Which Non-Public Schools Will Be Eligible to Participate in EANS II?
First, a school must serve a “significant percentage” of low-income families. The Department has decided that if at least 40 percent of a school’s students come from low-income families—i.e. families whose income does not exceed 185 percent of the 2020 federal poverty level—that school qualifies as a school that serves a significant percentage of such students. States can use data from various programs and sources (free and reduced priced lunch, E-rate, scholarship or financial assistance data, or data from a survey developed by the State Education Agency) to determine the count and percentage of students at each school that meet the poverty level threshold. The Department recognizes that not all schools have access to the same poverty data (or participate in the same programs). Therefore, the Department encourages state officials to consult with non-public schools and allow multiple sources of data to be submitted.
States do have some flexibility when it comes to the 40 percent requirement. If a state believes that the 40 percent threshold does not fit the circumstances of their state, they can apply to the Department to use an alternative percentage that better fits the low-income and poverty data in the state using measures such as:
- The State’s average percentage of students from low-income families in public and non-public schools;
- The average percentage of students from low-income families in non-public schools in the State that participated in EANS I; or
- Other factors that the State demonstrates support an alternate significant poverty percentage.
Second, to participate, a school most be “most impacted” by the COVID-19 emergency. The Department provides states some flexibility to determine which schools qualify as “most impacted” by providing a list of factors for the state to consider:
- The number of COVID-19 infections per capita in the community or communities served by the non-public school;
- The number of COVID-19 related deaths per capita in the community or communities served by the non-public school;
- Data on the academic impact of lost instructional time and the social, emotional, and mental health impacts on students attending the non-public school attributable to the disruption of instruction caused by the COVID-19 emergency; or
- The economic impact of the COVID-19 emergency on the community or communities served by the non-public school.
- This list of factors is not exclusive and the Department notes that a SEA may use other factors as well.
What is the Timeline for Distribution of EANS II Funds?
Governors must submit their state’s application to the Department of Education by September 9, 2021. The SEA must make an application available to interested and eligible schools within 30 days of receiving its funds. Once the application is available, the SEA must approve or deny applications from schools within 30 days of receipt of an application. At or before the time the state makes the applications to schools available, they must publish the criteria by which they will distribute the funds—i.e. what percentage they are using to determine if a school enrolls a significant percentage of students from low-income families (40 percent or another number); what sources of poverty data the state will use to determine the number of students from low-income families (i.e. at or below 185 percent of the federal poverty level); and the factors they will use to determine which schools are most impacted by COVID-19.
All told, the SEA has six months from the date of receipt of the funds to obligate the monies. If a SEA has unobligated money after six months, they must return the funds to the Governor and the money can then be used for any purpose authorized under a different program—GEER II.