The United States Congress passed the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER III) in March 2021. This relief fund was part of a $122 billion fund to help school districts impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Indiana was awarded 1.9 billion of these funds. These funds were then appropriated to school corporations based on a per-pupil formula. The ESSER III grant has been approved for Garrett-Keyser-Butler Community School District with an approved amount of $1,803,161.60. Per ESSER III guidelines 20% of the approved amount must go towards addressing learning loss. These funds are to be encumbered by September 30, 2024.
School corporations offered public comments on their re-opening plan as part of the ESSER III regulations. The Garrett-Keyser-Butler Community School District’s re-opening plan was presented at the Board of School Trustees meeting on Monday, July 26, 2021 and public comments were solicited.
The Garrett-Keyser-Butler Community School District ESSER III plan includes the following items:
Learning Loss:
- A Digital Curriculum Curation Specialist to support educators in utilizing digital curriculum to align student needs in the corporation
- A Band Consultant to help meet the individual needs of students that lacked instruction due to covid
- Musical instruments to help eliminate sharing between students
Administrative Expenses:
- Stipends for teachers and administrators to participate in professional development on digital integration of curriculum to address learning gaps.
- Adding an additional Nursing Assistant in the school clinic to aid with contact tracing and additional covid protocols
- Financial and onboarding software to aid in an all-virtual environment to reduce paper sharing and exposure
- New air handlers in locker rooms to improve air quality
- Repair GMS air system to improve air quality throughout the building