Lazaro Aleman
ECB Publishing, Inc.
The Jefferson County School District appears will be receiving nearly $2 million in federal funding as part of the Biden administration’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act.
The money, which is coming through the Elementary and Secondary Emergency Relief (ESSER) II Fund, is intended to help schools across the country reopen safely, regain learning loss, and recover from the overall effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
All told, $122 billion is being distributed to the 50 states through the ESSER II fund, of which Florida’s share in $7,038,246,438. And Jefferson County’s portion of the $7 billion, as reported by School Board Member Shirley Washington at the school board meeting on Monday evening, April 12, is $1,814,307.
Washington was surprised that no others of the board members knew about the allocation, which ignorance she attributed to the continuing lack of communications that she said keeps the school board in the dark about a great many things.
As it happened, School Superintendent Eydie Tricquet had been informed about the allocation from the Florida Department of Education (FDOE) and had forwarded the information to staff at Somerset so that funding could be pursued.
This is because, in the language of the FDOE and state statue, the money goes to the local educational agency (LEA), which now is Somerset in Jefferson County.
As for the accuracy of the $1,814,307, however, the newspaper could not verify the amount independently, as searches on the Internet proved unproductive, and emails and phone calls to FDOE went unanswered.
Tricquet, in a statement to the paper, said she would be working with Somerset to ensure that any money received would go to support student learning and academic success.
Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran, in a March 16 memo to school superintendents, stressed the need for districts to be fiscally responsible in the use of the federal money.
The ESSER funding, he said, should be used for nonrecurring needs, specifically those that would not exist once the state recovered from the pandemic.
He suggested that districts plan to use funds for pandemic-related needs through the next school year, which starts in the fall.
The state, according to the FDOE, is still awaiting guidance from the federal government as to how exactly the funds may be used.
However, according to the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE), Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, in a March 17 letter to state education commissioners, set down some general guidelines for the use of the money.
In his letter, as reported by the USDOE, some of the uses that Cardona said that the ESSER funds allowed included:
• Investing in resources to implement the CDC’s K-12 operational strategy for in-person learning to keep educators, staff and students safe;
• Improving ventilation, purchases personal protective equipment (PPE) and obtaining additional space to ensure social distancing in classrooms;
• Avoiding layoffs and hiring additional educators to address learning loss, as well as providing support to students and exiting staff, and providing sufficient staffing to facilities and social distancing;
• Implementing strategies to meet the social, emotional, mental health and academic needs of students hit hardest by the pandemic, including through evidence-based interventions and critical services like community schools; and
• Funding Wi-Fi hotspots and devices for students without connectivity for remote learning and supporting educators in the effective use of technology, plus additional uses as allowed by statute.
Cardona, according to the USDOE, stressed the importance of advancing equity in states' efforts to reopen schools quickly and safely.
He urged that states and school districts use the money equitably to expand opportunities for students who most needed the help, including those from low-income backgrounds, students of color, students with disabilities, English learners, students experiencing homelessness, and students with inadequate access to technology.