Headcounts are down at public schools. Now budgets are too

MISSION, Kan. (AP) – Public school systems are beginning to feel the pinch from enrollment losses tied to the coronavirus pandemic.

Funding for schools is driven partly by student headcounts, and emergency provisions in many states allowed them to maintain funding at pre-pandemic levels.

But like the billions of dollars of federal relief money that have helped schools weather the crisis, those measures were not meant to last forever.

A school system in suburban Kansas City is eliminating over 100 jobs, including kindergarten aides and library clerks. Oakland, California, is closing seven schools.

Other districts around the country are merging classrooms, selling buildings and leaving teaching positions unfilled.