It's hard to believe, but Keanu Reeves first unretired as seemingly unstoppable hitman John Wick nearly 10 years ago -- Oct. 13, 2014, to be precise -- and now Lionsgate is getting ready to celebrate.
Fans who had previously signed up for text alerts about the John Wick franchise were keyed in on Monday to 10th anniversary screenings of the original film, taking place Nov. 3 and Nov. 6, via Fathom Events.
For those in attendance, there will also be a special look at Ballerina, the spin-off starring Ana de Armas that features an appearance by Baba Yaga.
This is an app that will teach your child the value of a dollar and how to manage it. Find David Rancken’s App Of The Day. It’s called BusyKid. You can download BusyKid in the app stores below.
Viewers of Netflix's Emily In Paris will have a new way to celebrate their fandom: a new collaboration with Bath & Body Works.
The limited-edition Bath & Body Works x Emily In Paris collection kicks off in November, with "50 trĂšs chic products designed to captivate fansâ senses and transport them directly into the vibrant and stylish world of Emily Cooper," according to the ad copy.
The collection, which includes everything from lipstick to body spray to candles to hand sanitizer, "embodies Parisian charm, and marries fragrance with fashion."
Four scents drive home the collab: Champagne in Paris, "featuring notes of champagne spritz, elderberry fizz and lily of the valley"; Lavender Luxe, "inspired by the iconic lavender fields from season three ... with notes of Lavande de Provence, flirtatious jasmine and vanilla crush"; Macaron Cloud, which "features notes of macaron delight, Parisian spun sugar and pink berries and brings to life the essence of a French patisserie"; and Paris Amour, a 2011 favorite, which is being brought back and rebranded to tie into the series.
(NEW YORK) -- A New Mexico judge has declined to dismiss the case against "Rust" armorer Hannah Gutierrez, who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, after previously dismissing the case against Alec Baldwin for evidence suppression.
Her attorneys argued in court filings that she was entitled to a new trial or dismissal of the case for "egregious prosecutorial misconduct" and "severe and ongoing discovery violations by the State."
Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer denied the motion Monday following arguments during a virtual hearing Thursday. She also denied a separate motion from the defense seeking immediate release from detention.
In her ruling, Marlowe Sommer stated the issues raised by the defense did not justify a new trial or dismissal, and that in Gutierrez's case the state did not suppress the ammunition evidence that was at the heart of Baldwin's dismissal.
Marlowe Sommer dismissed Baldwin's case with prejudice on day three of the actor's July trial after his attorneys claimed live ammunition that came into the hands of local law enforcement related to the investigation into the deadly on-set shooting was "concealed" from them.
The judge said in court on July 12 while issuing her ruling that the state's discovery violation regarding the late disclosure of a supplemental report on the ammunition evidence "injected needless delay into the proceedings," approached "bad faith" and was "highly prejudicial to the defendant."
During Thursday's hearing, defense attorney Jason Bowles said the "significance of the items that were suppressed were favorable and material" to Gutierrez.
Bowles told the judge that he became aware of the ammunition -- which had been brought forward by his witness, Troy Teske, during Gutierrez's trial -- but directed Teske to bring it to the sheriff's office because he "didn't want to be in the chain of custody."
"We weren't told what happened" after that, Bowles said. "We weren't able to utilize those rounds."
He also argued the state suppressed additional evidence, including one of firearm expert Luke Haag's reports on the revolver involved in the shooting, and an interview with Seth Kenney, the owner of the prop firearms supplier for "Rust."
"This pattern of discovery abuse occurred in Miss [Gutierrez's] case in the same manner that it occurred in Mr. Baldwin's case," Bowles said, saying they are "asking for dismissal on the same basis that this court dismissed Mr. Baldwin's case."
Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey argued Gutierrez and Bowles can't rely on the dismissal of Baldwin's case over the rounds because they were in the possession of his witness, Teske.
"She and her lawyer had them during trial and chose not to use them," she said. "That is exactly what happened,"
"They don't get to now come and say we made a strategic error, so give us a new trial," she continued.
Morrissey argued the other evidence raised by Bowles was not material and said the state did not intentionally withhold evidence.
"Nothing was intentionally buried," she said, adding that the case had a "terabyte of discovery" with new discovery "coming in constantly."
In her order, Marlowe Sommer found that the state did suppress the Kenney interview and the Haag report, but that the defense failed to establish that either piece of evidence is material.
Regarding the Teske-supplied ammunition, the judge found that the state did not suppress or fail to provide her with evidence that could be favorable to her case because the live rounds were available to her and her defense in advance of and during her trial.
Marlowe Sommer also found that the state could not have suppressed other evidence related to the ammunition, including the sheriff's office's supplemental report and lapel footage of Teske at the sheriff's office, before or during the trial because those items were not created until on or after the final day of Gutierrez's trial.
Teske, a retired officer who lives in Arizona and is a friend of Gutierrez's father, famed Hollywood armorer Thell Reed, brought the live ammunition to the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office at the end of Gutierrez's trial. He said the ammunition, which was owned by Reed and from a different set, was suspected of being connected to the "Rust" set and that Gutierrez's defense did not want the ammunition, according to lapel footage of his sheriff's office interview played during Baldwin's trial.
Morrissey said during Baldwin's trial that the ammunition did not have any evidentiary value in either Gutierrez's or Baldwin's case. Baldwin defense attorney Luke Nikas charged that the ammunition evidence was ultimately "concealed" by being placed under a different case number and said it was "critical" evidence that was required to be disclosed.
A jury found Gutierrez guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Hutchins, who was fatally shot by Baldwin on the Santa Fe set of the Western in October 2021 when his revolver fired a live round.
Prosecutors argued during the March trial that the armorer was the source of the live bullet that killed Hutchins and had failed to follow safety protocols meant to protect the crew while handling the firearms.
Gutierrez was sentenced in April to 18 months in prison, the maximum for the offense.
MARSHALL â Our news partners at KETK report that after three years on the run a Marshall man has been arrested for felony warrants following a Saturday standoff, the Harrison County Sheriffâs Office said. According to the sheriffâs office, violent crime and the narcotics task force got a search warrant for the suspects house on Private Road 4035. Officers with the task force contacted 36-year-old Brian Demond George, of Marshall, and told him through the phone to exit the house peacefully, HCSO said. âGeorge told task force officers that he was not home and hung up,â the sheriffâs office said To force George out of the house, the sheriffâs office said the emergency response team deployed gas but he still did not exit. At the time of Brian Demond Georgeâs arrest. âThe task force knew George was not known for his honesty, so the Harrison County ERT entered Georgeâs residence,â the sheriffâs office said. âOnce inside, George was located in the back bedroom, and after approximately three years on the run, he was placed under arrest.â Continue reading Marshall man arrested after âthree years on the runâ
Cillian Murphy is looking a little grayer but every bit Tommy Shelby in a new first-look image from the anticipated Peaky Blinders film.
Netflix UK dropped the image on Monday to commemorate the first day of shooting in the U.K. on the feature film follow-up to the beloved gangster series.
As reported, Saltburn and Banshees of Inisherin star Barry Keoghan will appear alongside Murphy in the movie, along with Dune franchise veteran Rebecca Ferguson and new addition Tim Roth.
Netflix teases the film will be the "epic continuation of the multi-award-winning, six-season gangster saga."
Show creator â and the movie's writer â Steven Knight previously called it "an explosive chapter in the Peaky Blinders story," adding, "No holds barred. Full on Peaky Blinders at war."
The film is said to take place during the World War II period.
The series initially ran from 2013 to 2022 and was set in Birmingham, England, between 1919 and 1934. It centered on Tommy and his family making a name for themselves on the mean streets of England.
Series veteran director Tom Harper is behind the camera for the movie, co-executive produced by Murphy.
(WASHINGTON) -- Former President Donald Trump spoke at a furniture store in Hurricane Helene-ravaged Valdosta, Georgia, on Monday where he said the day wasn't about politics -- only to use the moment to continue to slam President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for their response to the natural disaster.
"As you know, our country is in the final weeks of a hard-fought national election. But in a time like this, when a crisis hits, when our fellow citizens cry out in need, none of that matters. We're not talking about politics now. We have to all get together and get this solved. We need a lot of help. They have to have a lot of help down here," Trump said of the Georgia community hit by the hurricane.
But Trump later suggested Biden and Harris weren't doing enough in the aftermath of the hurricane, which hit several states including Georgia and North Carolina -- two battlegrounds in the upcoming election.
"We do need some help from the federal government," Trump claimed.
On Monday, Biden said he has directed his team to "provide every, every available resource as fast as possible" to the communities to help them rescue, recover and begin to rebuild.
Homeland Security Adviser Liz Sherwood Randall on Monday said there are currently 3,500 federal response personnel deployed and supporting response efforts across the region, and additional personnel is expected to arrive in the coming days.
"Search and rescue efforts by state, local, and federal partners are ongoing, and nearly 600 additional personnel will arrive in the region in the coming days, increasing the total number of urban search and rescue personnel to over 1,250," she told reporters.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency and US Army Corps of Engineers are also getting generators ready to be deployed to states that request them.
While communication remains a major challenge for the impacted area, Sherwood-Randall said, "FEMA will install 30 Starlink receivers in western North Carolina to provide immediate connectivity for those in greatest need."
Biden, while returning home from the beach on Sunday, was adamant that his administration was doing everything possible to help the affected communities.
Asked by ABC News is there are more resources the federal government could be giving, Biden responded, "no, we've given them."
"We have pre-planned a significant amount, even though they didn't ask for it yet -- hadn't asked for it yet," Biden said Sunday.
The Trump campaign said it partnered with humanitarian aid nonprofit Samaritan's Purse to bring relief supplies to the state. A campaign official claimed it brought one gas tanker and two trucks full of supplies.
"We've done this before, but we have a lot of truckloads of different items, from oil to water to all sorts of equipment that's going to help them," Trump said.
Harris cut short her campaign swing through Las Vegas to return to Washington to be briefed on the hurricane response by the FEMA.
Harris said she intends to visit communities impacted by Hurricane Helene "as soon as it is possible without disrupting emergency response operations," according to a White House official. Harris, who was briefed by FEMA on the federal response to the hurricane, reached out to local officials, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp.
"We are deploying food, water and generators, and working to restore state and local leaders, we will provide whatever help they need in the days and weeks ahead," Harris said Sunday while rallying in Las Vegas.
She will learn more from FEMA during meetings in Washington on Monday, according to a White House official.
Trump's visit to Georgia comes after other recent criticism of Biden and Harris for their response to Hurricane Helene.
"She ought to be down in the area where she should be. That's what she's getting paid for, right? That's what she's getting paid for," Trump said at his rally Sunday in Erie, Pennsylvania.
Trump has attacked Harris' response to Hurricane Helene specifically, saying her delay in visiting the impacted region demonstrates that she isn't qualified to become president.
On Monday, Biden said called Hurricane Helene "not just a catastrophic storm, it's historic, history, making storm," and pledged to visit the impacted area once he can do so without being "disruptive," hopefully later this week.
"I also want you to know I'm committed to traveling to impacted areas as soon as possible. But, I've been told that it'd be disruptive if I did it right now, we will not do that at the risk of diverting or delaying any, any of the response assets needed to deal with this crisis," Biden said Monday. "My first responsibility is to get all the help needed to those impacted areas."
Asked if Trump's visit to Georgia was causing a disruption, Biden replied "I don't have any idea."
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday that Biden was "taking caution to avoid using critical resources that is needed right now, on the road, that, on the ground that people need," and added that "should be everyone's top consideration right now."
Asked if there requests for the Trump to delay his visit, Jean-Pierre didn't engage directly, repeating Biden's desire to not take away from resources, but adding "he believes everybody should adhere-adhere to that."
Hurricane Helene's storm surge, wind damage, and inland flooding caused deviation and casualties in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee, flooding neighborhoods, stranding residents, demolishing homes and toppling trees. The storm has killed at least 107 people and left dozens missing.
ABC News' Molly Nagle, Fritz Farrow, Gabriella Abdul-Hakim, Will McDuffie and Sarah Beth Hensley contributed to this report.
(WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.) -- Ryan Routh pleaded not guilty to federal charges in connection with an alleged attempt to assassinate Donald Trump at the former president's golf club in Florida.
Routh, 58, appeared in federal court in West Palm Beach on Monday for his arraignment, which lasted fewer than five minutes.
Routh's lawyers entered a not guilty plea on his behalf.
Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, who notably signed off on the Mar-a-Lago search warrant in the confidential documents case, presided over the arraignment.
Routh had previously been charged with possession of a firearm as a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number for the incident that took place at Trump International Golf Club on Sept. 15.
He was indicted last week with three new charges -- attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence and assaulting a federal officer -- on top of the two federal firearms charges.
He is being held without bail.
Prosecutors said in court filings there is "probable cause to support additional charges which can and should be considered by the court."
Routh possessed a list that included dates from August to October of venues where Trump had appeared or was expected to be -- and is suspected to have traveled near the golf course and Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort multiple times in the month leading up to his arrest, prosecutors said in a detention filing.
In their memo, prosecutors further revealed Routh allegedly sent a letter "several months prior" to his arrest to a civilian witness that stated, "This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump but I failed you."
The government argued the sole reason Routh was in West Palm Beach on Sept. 15 was "for one reason and one reason only and that was to kill the former President of the United States."
On the day of the alleged attempted assassination, Trump was playing golf on the course when a Secret Service agent spotted a gun barrel poking out from the tree line near the sixth green, according to investigators.
The agent then fired in the direction of the rifle and saw Routh fleeing the area and entering his nearby vehicle, according to the criminal complaint filed in the case.
In the area of the tree line where the suspect was seen, agents found a digital camera, two bags, including a backpack, and a loaded SKS-style 7.62x39 caliber rifle with a scope, according to the complaint.
Trump was not harmed in the incident and was taken to a safe location by Secret Service agents.
ABC News' Alexander Mallin contributed to this report.
Barbra Streisand has paid tribute to her A Star Is Born co-star Kris Kristofferson, who passed away Sept. 28 at the age of 88.
âThe first time I saw Kris performing at the Troubadour club in L.A. I knew he was something special,â she wrote on Instagram. âBarefoot and strumming his guitar, he seemed like the perfect choice for a script I was developing, which eventually became A Star Is Born.â
The pair starred in the 1976 version of the film, with Babs noting that in the movie he sang the filmâs love theme âEvergreen,â which she co-wrote with Paul Williams. Streisand's version of the song went to #1 and the song went on to win an Oscar for Best Original Song.
âFor my latest concert in 2019 at Londonâs Hyde Park, I asked Kris to join me on-stage to sing our other A Star Is Born duet, 'Lost Inside Of You,ââ she continued. âHe was as charming as ever, and the audience showered him with applause. It was a joy seeing him receive the recognition and love he so richly deserved.â
Finally she noted, âMy thoughts go to Krisâ wife, Lisa who I know supported him in every way possible.â
Kristofferson's death was announced Sunday with a post on his official Facebook account. In addition to his acting work, Kristofferson was famous for his songwriting, including tunes like "Me and Bobby McGee," "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down" and "Help Me Make It Through the Night."
Beverly Hills Cop star Judge Reinhold has paid tribute to his longtime friend and former onscreen partner John Ashton, who passed away at 76 following a battle with cancer.
The pair recently reunited for Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F opposite Eddie Murphy, which debuted on Netflix in May.
Ashton and Reinhold played respective detective partners Taggart and Rosewood in the hit comedy franchise; Reinhold's young cop paired well with Ashton's grizzled vet and both "by the book" officers clashed with Murphy's unorthodox Detroit PD detective.
Reinhold posted to Instagram, "Thursday night John seemed like he was sleeping but the Yankees were on. They won the game, clinched the division then John made it to home."
The actor continued, "Forty years of laughs on screen and off. John LIVED his life! My brother, my partner, my Sarge â I love you."
Cheekily, he added, "There's no smoking in Heaven, John."
Ashton's career spanned over four decades, including roles like the blunt bounty hunter Marvin Dorfler in Midnight Run alongside Robert De Niro and in Little Big League in 1994.
His obituary notes other notable films, such as Some Kind of Wonderful, She's Having a Baby and Gone Baby Gone.
On Rebel's Instagram, she posted a photo from the event, with both women wearing gorgeous white bridal gowns, against a breathtaking postcard perfect location.
According to Us Weekly, the intimate affair included Wilson's mom Sue Bownds, her sisters Annachi and Liberty Wilson, and her brother Ryan Ryot, along with some of the couples' close friends.
The Pitch Perfect actress, 44, and Agruma, 40, began dating in 2021 and went public with the romance in 2022, the same time Wilson came out as queer.
That same year, Wilson welcomed her first child, a baby girl, via surrogate.
The couple announced their engagement in 2023.
One of the first to salute the happy couple online was Rebel's Pitch Perfect co-star Adam Devine, who enthused, "Both of you look stunning! Congrats Rebs. Look at us all grown up! So happy for you!"
KTBB 97.5 FM is in the process of moving its transmitting antenna to a new tower. This process dictates that during the week of Sept. 30, KTBB 97.5 FM will either be off the air or operating at significantly reduced power for extended periods. All of KTBB-FMâs programming is simulcast on KTBB AM 600, and operation of KTBB AM 600 will continue normally. KTBBâs programming is also available via streaming on desktop computers and on mobile devices via the free KTBB Mobile App for Apple and Android.
(ERIE, Pa.) -- At a rally in Pennsylvania on Sunday, former President Donald Trump suggested "one rough hour" of law enforcement would deter retail theft.
After falsely claiming crime is up in the U.S. under President Joe Biden, mostly due to migrant crime, Trump brought up seeing stores in New York City and San Francisco locking up their merchandise behind glass doors.
"See, we have to let the police do their job. And if they have to be extraordinarily rough --" Trump trailed off as his rally crowd cheered.
Trump went on to claim, without evidence, that people are walking out of stores with items like air conditioning units and refrigerators "on their back," "And the police aren't allowed to do their job," he said.
"They're told if you do anything, you're going to lose your pension; you're going to lose your family, your house, your car. The police want to do it. The Border Patrol wants to do it. ... They're not allowed to do it because the liberal left won't let 'em do it," he said on stage.
"You know, if you had one day, like, one real rough, nasty day with the drugstores as an example, where when they start walking out with--" Trump continued before pivoting to retail crime in San Francisco, falsely claiming his opponent in the presidential race -- Vice President Kamala Harris -- was responsible for reclassifying felony theft as misdemeanors if under $950, even though it was a proposition approved by California voters.
Trump, who said he recently had a tenant end a lease due to retail theft, said things are "so bad."
"One rough hour -- and I mean real rough -- the word will get out, and it will end immediately, end immediately. You know, it will end immediately," he said.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Ross Chastain finally got to smash a watermelon for the first time this season Sunday at Kansas Speedway.
Smashed the hopes of a bunch of playoff drivers trying to earn an automatic berth in the next round, too.
The seventh-generation watermelon farmer took the lead from Martin Truex Jr. on a restart with 20 laps to go, then held off title contender William Byron the rest of the way to the finish line. It was the first win for Chastain since last year’s finale at Phoenix, when he also played a bit of a spoiler on the day that the NASCAR Cup Series crowned its champion.
âWe haven’t gone anywhere. We keep showing up,â said Chastain, who barely missed out on qualifying for the playoffs. âIt’s not easy when you’re failing or struggling at something, and you just can’t get to where you want to get to.â
The retiring Truex, who was eliminated from the playoffs last week, finished third in what was likely his final Kansas race.
He was leading when Carson Hocevar brought out the final caution of a wreck-filled day. Truex picked the top on the restart, and Chastain opted for the bottom, and it was the No. 1 car from Trackhouse Racing that got the big push to the front.
âIt’s pretty deflating when you don’t make the playoffs, and we knew the last couple of races of the regular season, we were right on that cut line,â said Chastain’s crew chief, Phil Surgen. âBut there’s no give-up here. We’re not laying down.â
Byron’s second-place run was the best among the 12 drivers going on to the second round of the playoffs. And while the win would have locked him into the next round of the playoffs with unpredictable Talladega up next, the result was enough to move the No. 24 car to the top spot in the playoff points standings.
âYou’re so close, and going to Talladega, you know what that is,â Byron said. âBut proud of the effort.â
Ryan Blaney had a loose left wheel in the final stage but rallied to finish fourth, giving the defending champ’s postseason hopes a big boost. Ty Gibbs was fifth, followed by four more playoff contenders: Alex Bowman was sixth, pole sitter Christopher Bell recovered from a couple of scrapes with the wall to finish seventh, Denny Hamlin salvaged an eighth-place run after trouble on pit road, and Chase Elliott was ninth after starting at the rear of the field due to an engine change.
âConsidering yesterday and starting last and everything, it could have been a lot worse,â Elliott said. âBut I’m always on the side of the fence where our car was good enough. I felt like (the results) could have been a lot better, but we’ll take it.â
Kyle Busch looked like he might finally extend his streak to 20 seasons with a Cup Series win when he passed Chastain with 64 laps to go. But cycling back to the front after pit stops, Busch was trying to squeeze by Chase Briscoe as the latter fought to stay on the lead lap. Busch ended up hitting the wall and skidding down the back stretch with 30 laps to go.
He wound up 19th, extending his winless streak to 51 races dating to last year in St. Louis.
âI guess I got in too big of a hurry,â Busch said. âI mean, I’m numb. I don’t know what to do.â
Kyle Larson had perhaps the longest day of anyone. The winner last week at Bristol had a right rear go down 18 laps into the race, sending him into the wall. The damage appeared to be minimal, and his Hendrick Motorsports crew kept working at it the rest of the race. But he still finished 26th, just behind fellow playoff drivers Briscoe and Tyler Reddick.
Austin Cindric had to pit twice at the end of Stage 1 because of a loose wheel, but he was back in contention when his left rear went down near the end of Stage 2, sending him spinning down the back stretch. He finished four laps down in 34th.
âThat is unacceptable for the position we are in, and especially with the speed we’ve had in the car,” Cindric said. “I’m pretty bummed about all that. I think the next two weeks are weeks we can go have great races, but we definitely wonât be able to get this one back. It makes our goals a little more clear going into Talladega and the Roval (at Charlotte).â
Blaney and Bell are six points behind Byron in the playoff standings, and Larson another 10 points back. Joey Logano is in the eighth and final spot above the cutoff, four points ahead of Reddick and 14 ahead of Daniel Suarez. Briscoe and Cindric are the other drivers in peril with two races left before the next cutoff.
Carl Edwards was back at Kansas Speedway to drive the pace car, eight years after walking away from the sport. He never won a Cup Series race at the track west of his hometown of Columbia, Missouri, but he did win a Truck Series race 20 years ago.
âI thought it was just going to be a ceremonial âgrand marshalâ kind of pace car thing,â Edwards said, âbut they made me come in this morning and do a lesson. A little more pressure than I expected.â
NASCAR continues the Cup Series playoffs next Sunday at Talladega. Blaney won a year ago, beating Kevin Harvick to the line after a last-lap wreck that included Elliott, Briscoe, Cindric and Riley Herbst.
(WASHINGTON) -- The White House is touting its American Rescue Plan (ARP) COVID emergency funding program as a win for public education with nearly 90% of its funds exhausted by Monday's deadline, according to senior Department of Education officials.
The final $122 billion phase of the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief fund (ESSER), a part of the ARP law signed by President Joe Biden in March 2021, was distributed to state and local education agencies to reopen schools and promote physical health, safety and mental health and well-being.
In total, that funding and two prior installments of ESSER during the 2020 pandemic is roughly $190 billion. It has been obligated or used on school recovery projects that are wrapped up. Senior Department of Education officials said about 12% of ARP projects that are still underway are expected to be finished by the end of a January, 2025, liquidation extension window.
The ESSER package that was doled out to states as discretionary funding sparked controversy over how the funds were being spent. Many conservatives speculated whether it was being utilized at all, blaming the federal Education Department for a lack of academic recovery and low test scores on national assessments coming out of the pandemic.
Education finance expert Jess Gartner, who has been tracking school spending projects, told ABC News that school districts had planned for the window closing on ESSER funding.
"The reality is, the vast majority of school districts turned the page on Fiscal Year 25 on July 1: that means budgets for the year are done and dusted. They were approved in May or June," Gartner said, adding, "It's not like September 30 is going to catch CFOs by surprise. You know, they've been planning for this deadline for three, four years, and they have a budget for the whole year that's already in motion and fully approved."
What is ESSER?
ESSER was granted by the Department of Education's Education Stabilization Fund. It was meant to meet the challenges of the pandemic and academic recovery, according to the COVID relief data website.
In ESSER I, Congress allotted about $13 billion through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act when the pandemic first closed schools for in-person learning in March 2020.
In ESSER II, the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations (CRRSA) Act provided an additional $54 billion in December 2020.
The final installment of nearly $122 billion, or ESSER III, came under the American Rescue Plan Act -- the fund enabled states to reopen schools and for students to recover from the pandemic. ARP provided additional FY 2021 funding for the Department of Education to assist states with addressing the impacts of COVID-19 on elementary and secondary schools.
ESSER III brought the total to about $190 billion in emergency funding for state and local education departments.
How is ESSER III being used?
That $122 billion was tacked onto the roughly $68 billion in money in ESSER I and ESSER II the previous year. As discretionary funding, states could distribute the allotment however they chose. In the last 3 1/2 years, school districts have used it on infrastructure projects, school enrichment and summer programs, and staff positions where needed.
Baltimore City Superintendent Dr. Sonja Santelises said her district's large projects -- critical in supporting an urban school population -- included building bathrooms, expanding summer programs and providing tutoring sessions.
"We didn't want to leave money on the table," Santelises said. "There was an intentional decision [in some urban school districts] to invest one-time money in building back what was already an under-resourced infrastructure in the school district -- these are the districts that are least likely to have the funding to do the capital projects," she added.
Despite critics ridiculing the spending practices in some states -- leading to tense debates about learning loss -- education experts told ABC News the summer programming and high-impact tutoring proved to be vital in academic recovery. Students who were socially isolated and fell behind used robust tutoring programs to not only catch up, but to also return to school if they were showing attendance issues, according to FutureEd Director Thomas Toch.
"Tutoring creates connections between students and adults and one of the things that we've learned in the wake of the pandemic is that kids are feeling more alienated, more isolated, than ever," he said. "An important sort of antidote to these high levels of chronic absenteeism is connecting kids to adults more fully than they have in the past."
A recent Pew Research Center survey of public K-12 teachers found more than 90% of teachers said their students are chronically absent. Of the teachers surveyed, about half of them said in five years the American education system will be worse than it is now.
Despite gains from the academic recovery programs ESSER provided during the pandemic, Harvard's Center for Education Policy Research Faculty Director Tom Kane said students are potentially facing permanent damage from the closures if learning loss ceases to improve.
What happens to ESSER now?
The obligation deadline for the last portion of ESSER funding is today -- Sept. 30 -- more than four years after the start of the pandemic and three years after ARP became law.
New emergency funding will not be granted to aid in the effort to help school communities recover from COVID. As U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona fights attacks on public education writ-large, he told ABC News "the recovery dollars were intended to prevent further exacerbation."
Jess Gartner believes school districts, by and large, handled the lump sum money well. With FY 2025's budget already in the books, school district leaders shouldn't panic and should be prepared to rely on the funds they would have typically received before COVID, Gartner said.
"These budgets are planned years in advance," Garner told ABC News. "It's kind of like if you were planning to buy a house, right? You don't show up at the closing, like, 'Oh man, how am I gonna pay for this?'" she quipped.
Now school districts have to make due with the chunk of funding they annually receive from the federal government, which is on average about 10%. Similar to before the pandemic, they will be supported by state and local governments, which make up roughly 90% of public school funding.
But the COVID-19 emergency exposed infrastructure and workforce problems that public schools were dealing with before the pandemic and were exacerbated on a large scale during it, education experts said.
Some leaders like Santelises are calling for more help as the pandemic's impact on students continues.
"It's the federal government's responsibility to champion looking at the long term impact and to not take the posture that somehow three years you wave a wand and all the kids are back, " Santelises said. "The kids are not all back."
