New Orleans to spend $2.5M of pandemic emergency relief money on football field

(The Center Square) – In January 2021, the White House announced the American Rescue Plan, introduced in the middle of "an economic crisis" caused by the pandemic and it would "save American lives."

"We are in a race against time, and absent additional government assistance, the economic and public health crises could worsen in the months ahead; schools will not be able to safely reopen; and vaccinations will remain far too slow," the news release stated .

However, in the city of New Orleans, the city and the Orleans Parish School Board are working together to use $2.5 million in federal American Rescue Plan money to build a football field.

The school district stated in documents that the project would "accomplish the valuable public purpose of improving health and wellness outcomes by constructing a public recreational facility (9th Ward Stadium) on publicly owned land in a community that was disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic."

The project would prove an "anchor home field" for George Washington Carver High School to be used for football, track and soccer.

The school district didn't respond to an email seeking comment.

The project is an example of what many schools across the country are spending federal emergency pandemic money on, according to one expert.

"ARPA sent $122 billion to public schools even though it was clear at the time that additional federal aid wasn't needed to safely reopen schools," said Aaron Smith, director of education reform at the Reason Foundation, in an email to The Center Square. "Students fell far behind during the pandemic, but public schools didn't prioritize learning recovery with relief funds. Only about a third of public-school districts used these dollars on intensive tutoring to catch kids up. Instead, many districts used the one-time cash on facility upgrades, pay raises, and backfilling budget holes. There are plenty of egregious examples of wasteful spending such as new weight rooms, football stadiums, and electrifying bus fleets."

U.S. Congressman Troy Carter stated in September 2022 that he secured $3 million in federal funds for the project. He stated that the cost of the entire project would be about $9 million.