A new report has revealed [1] that hundreds of billions of dollars in COVID-relief funds intended for schools were spent on expenses with little impact on students, including Las Vegas hotel stays, an ice cream truck, and Major League Baseball stadium rentals.
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a newly established agency under the Trump administration, released findings on Thursday, stating that nearly $200 billion allocated to schools through COVID-relief programs was “spent with little oversight or impact on students.”
The report, which includes data collected by Parents Defending Education and shared by DOGE, highlighted specific cases of questionable spending by school districts across the country.
- Granite Public Schools in Utah used $86,000 in COVID-relief funds for hotel rooms at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
- Santa Ana Unified School District in California spent $393,000 to rent out a Major League Baseball stadium.
- A California school district purchased an ice cream truck with federal relief funds.
- Another district allocated $60,000 for swimming pool passes.
The Trump administration’s cost-cutting department has raised concerns about how these funds were used, particularly with little to no documentation required at the time of expenditure.
“All of this money was drawn with zero documentation,” DOGE stated in a post on X.
With approximately $4 billion in remaining COVID-relief funds, the Trump administration has announced stricter oversight requirements for future allocations.
“All grantees must provide receipts for every purchase before funding is released,” DOGE confirmed.
Schools have spent nearly $200B of COVID-Relief funds with little oversight or impact on students. $393K to rent out a Major League Baseball stadium, $86K in Caesars Palace hotel rooms, $60k in swimming pool passes, and even an ice cream truck. All of this money was drawn with…
— Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) February 20, 2025 [2]
As part of a broader effort to reform federal education spending, the administration is reworking how the Department of Education distributes funds, ensuring that taxpayer dollars are used for direct student benefits rather than unnecessary expenditures.
The revelations about school district spending have sparked backlash from local leaders and education advocacy groups.
Moms for Liberty, a parental rights organization, responded to the report by reminding the public of past school board meetings where parents were dismissed for questioning how relief funds were spent.
“Recall those school board meetings when the ruling elites of Covidstan branded mothers as selfish disruptors simply for challenging their interpretation of ‘The Science’ and scrutinizing how they allocated ESSER Funds? Never let them forget that we were right about everything,” the group posted on X.
Recall those school board meetings when the ruling elites of Covidstan branded mothers as selfish disruptors simply for challenging their interpretation of “The Science” and scrutinizing how they allocated ESSER Funds?
Never let them forget that we were right about everything. https://t.co/qxUC4uSRTa [3]
— Moms for Liberty (@Moms4Liberty) February 20, 2025 [4]
Will O’Neil, chairman of the Orange County Republican Party, criticized the MLB stadium rental, calling it “an absolute joke.”
The Republican Party of Bexar County also reacted, writing, “This is outrageous.”
DOGE has also targeted spending cuts within the Department of Education (DoEd), eliminating $370 million in taxpayer-funded Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs just last week.
As part of these cuts, 70 DEI training grants were terminated, including one that funded training for teachers to “engage in ongoing learning and self-reflection to confront their own biases and racism, and develop asset-based anti-racist mindsets,” according to DOGE.
With the Trump administration tightening financial oversight, future education funding will be subjected to greater scrutiny, aiming to ensure that taxpayer money is spent on direct educational improvements rather than frivolous expenditures.
As investigations continue, more school districts could face accountability measures for past misuse of COVID-relief funds.