The Tennessee Department of Education announced the approval of all 147 school districts on their required ESSER (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief) plans. Through ESSER, the schools have more than $3.5 billion through federal COVID-19 relief funding to benefit K-12 public school students in their districts. Following the U.S. Department of Education guidelines, all districts were “required to develop plans that outlined their local spending strategies for their portion of the historic amount of federal funding.”
“Tennessee’s education leaders recognize the opportunity and responsibility our state has with these historic funds to benefit Tennessee’s students,” said Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn. “We’re incredibly proud of the hard work both districts and the department have committed to building smart, strategically aligned plans to ensure the greatest impact for students’ outcomes and the future of our state. The importance of community engagement, surveying local needs, and planning for the future were key components of this process, and we are committed to supporting the great work ahead for our schools and systems.”
According to the statement, Tennessee received over 4.5 billion in taxpayer dollars from Congress’s response to the COVID pandemic, with the money to be spent between Spring 2020 through fall 2024. Through three rounds of funding, “over $3.58 billion will flow directly to local school districts to decide how to spend.”
School districts were required to submit five components to the department including: an ESSER Public Plan, ESSER Funding Application, Health and Safety Plan, Needs Assessment, and Community Engagement Checklist; which totaled over 700 plans compiled by districts across the state. To support the districts in their planning, the TDOE offered multiple resources to the schools.
“The department remains focused on academic achievement and acceleration, and is making deep, strategic investments to provide the most-needed support for students.”
All federal relief funding was required to establish a multi-level review process to address all required components of a district’s submission. All documents from the schools were due to the TDOE by August 27th, 2021 for review and approval. All documents were required to be posted publicly upon approval, which can be found here.
– – –
Morgan Nicole Veysey is a reporter for The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow her on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
