American Rescue Plan (ESSER III)

This grant is to be used over this school year and the next three years. District staff and families received a survey to help determine the priorities for allocation of these funds. Over 240 stakeholders completed this survey. As the results of this survey were analyzed there were several areas that were determined to be a priority for our stakeholders.

1. Hire additional staff to assist in mitigating the unfinished learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2. Technology improvements to close the digital divide
3. Purchase new curriculum materials to accelerate learning
4. Facility improvements/purchases to assist in mitigating the impact of COVID-19
5. Social distancing was enhanced by the purchase of extra cafeteria tables, for example. And additional staff was hired to allow fewer students per classroom.
6. To address the impact of lost instructional time the district hired learning-loss aides and interventionists to work with those most impacted.
7. The remaining ARP ESSER funds for FY24 and partially into FY25 the funds will be used to continue the work of the learning-loss aides and interventionist and well as funding a halftime Math teacher to directly target our lowered Math scores.
8. To address the social, emotional, mental health, and academic needs of those most disproportionately affected by Covid-19 we the interventionist aids work under the supervision of and in cooperation with our Social Workers.
9. These plans were developed after meaningful consultation all stakeholders. District Leadership Teams, every department in the district, and union leaders were involved in the process. Students, parents, community groups, indeed all community members were either directly mailed information on how to engage as a stakeholder or were invited to get to our website to be involved in our district-wide survey.
10. The district made sure to engage people that serve our often “underserved” student populations in the formation of this plan.
11. At our regular open meetings with the Board of Education the administration of this district report data on how we are meeting our goals to recoup for losses related to Covid-19. The public is invited to provide meaningful feedback from their perspective which, in turn, is used to further refine the district actions.

The Administration and Board of Education will continually evaluate the use of these funds over this school year and until FY 25 to ensure we are doing everything possible to make a positive impact on student safety and learning.