PHOENIX โ Arizona is getting another $862 million in federal COVID relief money to help safely reopen schools.
But a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Education said none of these dollars will be available for the legally questionable program instituted by Gov. Doug Ducey to financially reward schools that do not require students and staff to wear masks. Thatโs because this money is coming from the Treasury Department, which administers a separate program. And it was Treasury that told Ducey his plans violate the terms of the grant.
โThe Department of Education will continue to closely review and monitor whether Arizona is meeting all of its federal fiscal requirements,โโ spokesman Luke Jackson told Capitol Media Services about the money within the DOEโs discretion.
The departmentโs Office for Civil Rights already has opened investigations into five states that prohibit schools from requiring masks. That is on the basis that such restrictions illegally discriminate against students with disabilities who, with heightened risk of contracting COVID-19, may not be able to access in-person education.
The only reason Arizona is not on that list, the department said, is because its ban on mask mandates remains legally unenforceable, at least for the time being. That follows a ruling by Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Katherine Cooper last month that the ban approved by the Republican-controlled Legislature โ along with some other measures โ was illegally enacted.
The state Supreme Court is set to hear arguments Nov. 2 on that case.
Separate pots of money
There are multiple pots of money under the American Rescue Plan, which is a COVID-19 relief program.
The $862 million distributed Thursday by the Department of Education comes from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief fund. It is the final payment in the $2.5 billion Arizona was allotted.
It also is money going to the state Department of Education and not subject to gubernatorial discretion.
Among the programs funded here is a Ready for School Campaign to encourage parents to send their children back to the classroom for in-person instruction.
The state will also carry out separate programs to expand summer and after-school instruction programs, to deal with time lost while schools were closed. There also is a separate partnership with the stateโs three universities to help schools recruit and retain faculty.
By contrast, the money given to Ducey to distribute came from a separate Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund established under the American Rescue Plan. Those dollars are administered by the U.S. Treasury.
Ducey, claiming absolute discretion on how those dollars were divided up, used $163 million to boost per-pupil funding. But he only made the money available to districts and charter schools that were โfollowing all state laws,โ which Ducey said meant only those schools that do not require the use of masks indoors.
The governor also put another $10 million into a program to provide $7,000 vouchers to parents whose children were in public schools with mask mandates, to instead let them attend private or parochial schools.
But Deputy Treasury Secretary Adewale Adeyemo, in a letter to Ducey, said that money was earmarked to help stop the spread of the virus. He said Duceyโs actions run afoul of the restrictions the state agreed to, and he gave the governor 30 days to fix it or be required to return the cash.
Other than his press aide lashing out at the Biden administration, Ducey has yet to formally respond.
Five states targeted
There could be bigger legal problems waiting in the wings.
In August, Susan Goldberg, the acting assistant secretary for civil rights within the U.S. Department of Education, sent letters to chief school officers in five states that also ban schools from having mask mandates: Iowa, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Utah.
As to Arizona, federal officials are adopting a wait-and-see approach because of the court ruling that keeps the state from telling schools they canโt require masks. But they say they will โclosely monitorโ what goes on here if Cooperโs ruling is reversed.
Renowned Tucson architect Roy Place brought the Spanish Colonial Revival style to the Old Pueblo, as well as the Pioneer Hotel, Bear Down Gym, the Plaza Theatre, the VA Hospital, and dozens of other buildings in town.ย
