Federal COVID Grant – District Funding Priorities
The American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act of 2021, Public Law 117-2, was enacted on March 11, 2021. The ARP Act provides additional funding for school districts to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Education portion of ARP is known as the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER III) Fund. The purpose of money is to support the safe reopening and sustaining safe operations of schools while meeting students’ academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. We did not access any funds last year, so we have the entire grant entitlement for use in addressing COVID impacts over the next three years.
You can read the full scope of requirements of ESSER III here: https://www.doe.mass.edu/federalgrants/esser/
This survey is to inform each stakeholder group of the potential uses of this funding and anticipated priorities as we complete the grant application. As required in the grant, we are seeking feedback from the entire Community around those areas we have identified as a need to be addressed due to pandemic impacts.
Please take a few moments to complete the survey to identify your top 5 priorities for the allowable uses of these funds no later than next Wednesday, September 15th.
Brian