AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced at the end of April that the state is releasing $11.2 billion in federal funds to public schools to help pay for pandemic costs and to address student learning loss.
One teacher in Austin ISD says the 2020-2021 school year has been one of the most stressful and difficult of both her professional and personal life.
Bianca San Miguel is an eighth-grade science teacher in Austin ISD and says while she and her fellow educators have done their best to adapt to teaching during a pandemic, she hopes federal aid will allow the school district to provide more support to teachers.
“We’ve just been kind of winging it and trying as best as we can to support our students, while also supporting each other," said San Miguel.
She got a medical accommodation to teach from home during the fall semester. She says while she was waiting for that accommodation request to get approved, she taught her students virtually, but she says the district docked all her sick days.
Now, she doesn’t have any left, so any time she takes off comes out of her paycheck. About one month ago, she was diagnosed with cancer.
“It’s two tumors, and they're too big to operate on right now, so that's why we're doing chemo first," said San Miguel. "Any time I have an appointment for chemo or follow-ups with my doctor, it literally, it costs me money. That check pays the bills, it supports my family, it feeds my family.”
She hopes some relief might be on the way. The state is sending $11.2 billion in federal aid money to public schools to help pay for pandemic costs. Austin ISD is getting about $150 million.
Some of that will cover costs the district incurred over the past year to provide technology like computers and hot spots for students. A significant portion of the funds will be dedicated to starting new programs to help students catch up academically.
“We definitely know that a minimum of 20% of these dollars need to be spent on direct services to students to address the academic learning loss that that is the main overarching umbrella," said Austin ISD Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde.
San Miguel hopes that the additional funding will also allow the district to provide more support for teachers.
“Money doesn't solve every issue but it absolutely would make a difference in their ability to be more flexible," she said. "I would assume it would be easy to find somebody for my in-person students while I could also teach virtually."
Austin ISD plans on getting input from the community before deciding how to spend the money.
In the meantime, San Miguel says she remains focused on the most important people in her life.
“I’m going to do what I have been doing since the beginning of the year, focus on my students try to keep my children as safe as I can. Just try to survive the year," she said.