ESSER Spending Deadline 2026: What Districts Can Still Buy for Family Communication

ESSER III, the largest of the three federal pandemic relief packages for schools, had an obligation deadline of September 30, 2024 under the original federal timeline. But not all districts have reached that point. The U.S. Department of Education granted all states the ability to request late liquidation of ARP ESSER funds, and many districts are still working through remaining balances in 2026.

If your district has unspent ESSER funds, the window to use them is narrowing but may not be closed. Here is what you need to know about what you can still buy, how fast you can move, and what to do before the deadline.

What late liquidation means and who qualifies

Late liquidation is a federal grant term for the period after a grant's original end date during which recipients can continue to spend funds that were obligated before the deadline. The U.S. Department of Education's approval of late liquidation for ARP ESSER gave districts that had obligated funds before September 30, 2024 additional time to draw down and spend those funds.

Not every district qualifies. The key question is whether your district obligated the relevant funds before the original deadline. If you have a signed purchase order, a contract, or an employment action dated before September 30, 2024 for an expenditure that has not yet been paid, you likely qualify for late liquidation. If your district has a general unspent balance with no prior obligation behind it, the situation is more complex.

The only reliable way to confirm your district's status is to contact your state education agency. ESSER administration varies by state, and the specific late liquidation terms your district is operating under depend on your state's federal approval and your individual grant agreement.

Communication tools: why they work for end-of-grant spending

When districts are working through remaining ESSER balances close to a deadline, the ideal expenditure is fast to obligate, clearly allowable, produces documentation on its own, and has ongoing value to the district beyond the grant period. School newsletter platforms check all four boxes.

A subscription can be purchased with a purchase order in a single day. The allowable use case is clearly documented in federal guidance under family and community engagement. The platform generates usage evidence, in the form of send reports and subscriber data, from the first newsletter sent. And unlike a one-time purchase, a subscription builds communication infrastructure that the district continues to use after ESSER ends.

Compare this to other common end-of-grant purchases: technology hardware takes time to specify, procure, and receive; professional development contracts require finding a vendor and scheduling sessions; staffing expenditures are subject to HR and benefits complexity. A communication platform subscription is straightforwardly fast.

What to do in the next 30 days if you have an unspent ESSER balance

If you believe your district has an ESSER balance that may still be available under late liquidation, the sequence is: confirm with your state agency first, identify what you have already obligated versus what is unobligated, prioritize expenditures that are already in process, and then look at whether any fast-to-execute allowable purchases can absorb the remaining balance.

Document every step of that process. If you end up returning funds, the documentation shows you made a good-faith effort to use them for allowable purposes. If you spend the balance, the documentation supports the expenditure in any subsequent audit.

Do not spend ESSER funds on activities that are not clearly allowable, are poorly documented, or that you cannot connect to ESSER's intended outcomes. An audit finding that requires repayment can exceed the value of the original expenditure when administrative costs are included. The only spending that makes sense close to a deadline is spending you can defend.

After ESSER: what comes next for family communication funding

ESSER was a one-time program. The districts that will sustain the family communication progress they made with ESSER funds are the ones that planned for what comes after. Title I Part A's parent and family engagement set-aside is the most accessible ongoing funding source for communication tools. State-level family engagement grants, technology funds, and general fund communications allocations are others.

Build the successor funding plan now. A communication tool that disappears when ESSER ends represents a step backward for the families who started receiving consistent newsletters because of it. A tool that transitions to Title I or general fund sustains the gain and builds on it.