Review Agenda Item
Meeting Date: 4/9/2021 - 7:00 PM
Category: Financial Services
Type: Info
Subject: American Rescue Plan Act
ACPS 2025 Strategic Plan Goal:
Goal 4: Strategic Resource Allocation
ACPS will strategically provide differentiated resources and supports to schools and departments.
Policy: DB - Annual Budget
Funding Source or Fiscal Impact (where applicable)
File Attachment:
210409_Brief_American_Rescue_Plan_Act.pdf
Agenda Item Summary: The preliminary ESSER III funds for ACPS total $34,792,780.78. The allowable uses for ESSER III funds follow that of ESSER I and II with the following changes:

• LEAs must reserve at least 20 percent of funds to address learning loss through the implementation of evidence-based interventions and ensure that those interventions respond to students’ social, emotional, and academic needs and address the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on underrepresented student groups (each major racial and ethnic group, children from low-income families, children with disabilities, English learners, gender, migrant students, students experiencing homelessness, and children and youth in foster care).
• Each LEA must, within 30 days of receiving ESSER III funds, make publicly available on its website a plan for the safe return to in-person instruction and continuity of services. Before making the plan publicly available, the LEA must seek public comment on the plan. A school division’s COVID-19 mitigation health plan may meet this requirement provided that the plan reflects the division’s current reopening plan and is posted on the school division’s website.
• As with ESSER II, ESSER III does not include equitable services provisions for non-public schools. Instead, a separate Emergency Assistance for Non-Public Schools (EANS) program is specified. The EANS program will be administered by the Virginia Department of Education.
• The ARP includes LEA maintenance of equity requirements for FFY 2022 and FFY 2023. As a condition of receiving ESSER III formula funds, LEAs may not reduce per-pupil funding (from combined state and local funding) in Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2022 or FY 2023 for any high-poverty school by an amount that exceeds the total reduction in LEA funding for all schools served by the LEA divided by the number of children enrolled in all schools served or reduce per-pupil, full-time equivalent staff in any high-poverty school by an amount that exceeds the total reduction in full-time equivalent staff in all schools divided by the number of children enrolled in all schools. USED has indicated that it will provide additional guidance on these requirements in the near future

Our plan for the use of funds continues to be focused on SEAL, Classroom Monitors, Facilities and Operations COVID-19 Mitigation Projects, and Technology Infrastructure.
Background: The American Rescue Plan Act was signed into law on March 11, 2021. Virginia’s ARPA Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) III award was $2.1 billion, with 90 percent of this award to be distributed to local educational agencies (LEAs) based on each LEA’s relative share of Title I, Part A, FFY 2020 funds. ACPS preliminary ESSER III allocation is $34,792,780.78. Final awards will be announced via VDOE Memo following the official release of Virginia’s grant award from the U.S. Department of Education (USED).
Recommendation: The Superintendent recommends that the School Board review this information.
Approvals:
Recommended By:
Signed By:
Dominic Turner - Chief Financial Officer
Signed By:
Dr. Gregory C. Hutchings, Jr. - Superintendent