As CMS faces funding cut, group pushes to keep support staff in schools WSOC TV [Video]

CHARLOTTE — Schools across Charlotte are staring at a financial cliff as billions of dollars in pandemic funding will expire this fall.

But there’s a nationwide push to keep some roles on the payroll.

More than four years after the COVID-19 pandemic started, the loss of learning is still being felt at schools across the country. Students continue to struggle with chronic absences and low test scores.

To help address the learning loss, districts received nearly $200 billion as part of the federal government’s “Elementary and S econdary School Emergency Relief Fund.”

The money went towards bringing in social workers, school nurses, behavioral and mental health specialists, and school counselors. More money also went to support students in low-income school districts.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools received nearly $200 million in funding. But that’s set to expire in September.

“My sincere hope would be school districts see the importance and the relevance of …