As many of you are aware, Vermont’s education system has received, and continues to receive, significant federal funding as part of the COVID-19 response. In total the state has received close to $500 million in education funds, and one of the largest allocations came in the American Rescue Plan Act on March 11, 2021 in the form of the ARP ESSER (ESSER III) grant program. This program allocates $256,647,724 to Local Education Agencies (LEAs), or what are commonly known as the Supervisory Unions and Supervisory Districts (SUs/SDs), and reserves $28,516,484 to the Agency of Education (AOE) for statewide responses to the pandemic.
ESSER funds are intended to “prepare for, prevent and respond” to COVID-19 and there is a broad, but definitive list of allowable costs that SU/SDs must follow. The US Department of Education states that these funds are intended, “to help safely reopen and sustain the safe operation of schools and address the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the nation’s students,” with a specific emphasis on meeting the needs of underserved student groups and those most significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The following document is intended to summarize for the public, requirements related to how the Hartford School District intends to use its allocation of ARP ESSER funds. The public and stakeholder groups are invited to provide input on this plan by May 1, 2022 through email; hathornr@hartfordschools.net