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ESSER III

ESSER III, the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund grant program authorized under American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act, provides additional money for local educational agencies (LEAs) to prevent, prepare for, and respond to COVID-19. ESSER III supplements ESSER I, created by the CARES Act in March 2020, and ESSER II, created by the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations (CRRSA) Act in December 2020.

Wisconsin's ESSER III State Plan

Watch this presentation to learn about the proposed modifications to Wisconsin's ESSER III State Plan and the use of the state set-aside portion of ESSER III funds.

ESSER III Formula Grants to LEAs

Allocations

As required, DPI will calculate ESSER III allocations to LEAs using the 2020-21 Every Student Succeeds Act, Title I, Part A formula, which is based on the number and percentage of children from low-income families. Title I requirements do not apply to ESSER III funds.

A detailed timeline of Wisconsin's ESSER III State Plan approval process can be found in the ESSER III State Plan and Timeline section below.

Performance Period

The ESSER III grant performance period is March 13, 2020-September 30, 2024.

Equitable Services to Private Schools

LEAs are not required to provide equitable services with ESSER III. Congress provided additional funding to the Emergency Assistance for Non-Public Schools (EANS) program, administered by the DPI. For more information, visit DPI’s EANS webpage.

Application and Fiscal Considerations

Allowed Activities and Costs

All activities allowed under ESSER I and ESSER II are also allowed under ESSER III, with an additional emphasis on assessing and addressing learning loss. All activities supported by ESSER III must prevent, prepare for, or respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

LEAs receiving funds under ESSER III are required to reserve no less than 20 percent of their allocation for the purpose of addressing learning loss through the implementation of evidence-based interventions. These interventions must respond to students’ academic, social, and emotional needs and address the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on students from low-income families, students of color, English learners, students with disabilities, students experiencing homelessness, children and youth in foster care, and migratory students.

LEAs should take comprehensive action to restore and maintain high-quality learning environments and safely reopen elementary and secondary schools as soon as possible. In doing so, LEAs should pay particular attention to the needs of students disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.

ESSER III Application Overview

The ESSER III grant application and budget are now open in WISEgrants for LEAs to complete. The ESSER III application includes the Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services Plan, the ESSER III LEA Plan, EBIS selection, and the ESSER III budget with at least 20 percent of funds reserved for EBIS. LEAs have 90 days to submit their initial ESSER III application as required by the U.S. Department of Education. ESSER III initial application and budget submissions are due to DPI by March 11, 2022. DPI consultants will review applications in the order they are received. LEAs can claim funds as soon as their applications are approved.

Video Walkthrough of the ESSER III Application

The ESSER III grant application will consist of the following:

  1. Assurances (including Paying Employees and Contractors to the Greatest Extent Practicable)
  2. ESSER III LEA Plan, developed in consultation with stakeholders
  3. Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services Plan
    1. CESA 5 has developed this template version of the Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services Plan for LEAs across the state to utilize.
    2. Certifying the ESSER III Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services Plan in WISEgrants (Google Doc) technical assistance document.
  4. Budget (including a description of the steps to be taken to overcome applicable barriers to ensure equitable access for all students within the LEA as required under the General Education Provision Act Section 427)
EBIS Grant Application Overview

The ESSER III evidence-based improvement strategies (EBIS) Grant application and budget are now open in WISEgrants for select LEAs to complete. The ESSER III EBIS Grant application requires LEAs receiving additional ESSER III funds to raise the minimum per pupil amount to $578 or the minimum grant amount to $320,074 (or $200,000 for LEAs with fewer than 25 total pupils) to select the EBIS the LEA will implement or maintain using the ESSER III EBIS Grant and budget 100 percent of EBIS Grant funds for activities necessary to implement or maintain EBIS. LEAs have 90 days to submit their initial ESSER III application as required by the U.S. Department of Education. ESSER III EBIS Grant initial application and budget submissions are due to DPI by August 31, 2022. DPI staff will review applications in the order they are received. LEAs may claim ESSER III EBIS Grant funds as soon as their applications are approved.

Please see the following resources, including the EBIS Grant Start Guide and video walkthrough to assist you in completing the ESSER III EBIS Grant application and budget. 

ESSER III Out of School Time Grants

Please see the ESSER III American Rescue Plan (ARP) Out of School Time Grant Opportunity page for information on the ESSER III Out of School Time grant opportunities.

Required Consultation with Stakeholders

LEAs must provide opportunities for stakeholders to meaningfully and substantively contribute to their ESSER III Plan. Consultation must occur prior to submitting a plan in WISEgrants. 

LEAs may use this ESSER III Stakeholder Engagement slidedeck (Google Slides - click "Make a Copy" to create a local editable copy) to guide stakeholder input sessions.

All LEAs must consult with the following groups:

  • students
  • families
  • school and district administrators (including pupil services/special education administrators)
  • teachers, principals, school leaders, other educators, school staff, and their unions

To the extent present in or served by the LEA, LEAs must also consult with the following groups:

  • American Indian Nations
  • civil rights organizations (including disability rights organizations)
  • stakeholders representing the interests of
    • children with disabilities,
    • English learners,
    • children experiencing homelessness,
    • children in foster care,
    • migratory students,
    • children who are incarcerated, and
    • other underserved students

In addition, LEAs must provide the public the opportunity to provide input to the ESSER III Plan and take such input into account.

ESSER III LEA Plans

View current ESSER III LEA Plans on the ESSER III LEA Plans page. 

See the ESSER III LEA Plan Requirements document for details on what is required from LEAs to comply with this federal requirement.

The information required for the ESSER III LEA Plan (listed below) is automatically compiled from the ESSER III application and budget in WISEgrants. Once the LEA’s application is approved by a DPI staff member, WISEgrants will generate a PDF version of the plan that LEA staff can download from the ESSER III application menu or the Reports menu by clicking the "ESSER III LEA Plan Report" link. Once downloaded, the LEA must post the ESSER III LEA Plan on the LEA’s public facing website, most likely near the LEA's other COVID-19 information such as the Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services Plan and other relevant information the LEA provides for staff, students, families, and the community. The LEA will report the URL of the public-facing ESSER III LEA Plan to DPI as part of annual ESSER reporting.

The ESSER III LEA Plan will use ESSER III application and budget information to describe the following:

  1. How funds will be used to implement prevention and mitigation strategies that are, to the greatest extent practicable, consistent with the most recent CDC guidelines on reopening schools, in order to continuously and safely open and operate schools for in person learning
  2. How the LEA will use at least 20% to address the academic impact of lost instructional time through the implementation of evidence-based interventions, as defined by the Every Student Succeeds Act (Note: In addition to interventions provided during the regular school day/school year, this may also include summer learning or summer enrichment, extended day, comprehensive after school programs, or extended school year programs.)
  3. How the LEA will spend its remaining ESSER III funds, consistent with allowed activities defined in the ARP Act
  4. How the LEA will ensure that the interventions it implements, including but not limited to the interventions under #2 above, respond to the academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs of all students, particularly those students disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, including the following:
    1. students from low-income families
    2. students of color
    3. English Learners
    4. children with disabilities
    5. students experiencing homelessness
    6. children in foster care
    7. migratory students
Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services Plan

LEAs must review, and revise as appropriate, the Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services Plan at least every six months through September 30, 2023 (one year prior to the end date to use ESSER III funds). LEAs must seek public input on the plan and any revisions, and must take such input into account. The plan must be in an understandable and uniform format. All revisions must include an explanation and rationale of why the revisions were made.

LEAs must describe the following:

  1. How the LEA will maintain the health and safety of students, educators, and other staff, and the extent to which the LEA has adopted policies (including a description of any such policies) regarding each of the following safety recommendations established by the CDC:
    1. Universal and correct wearing of masks
    2. Modifying facilities to allow for physical distancing (e.g., use of cohorts/podding)
    3. Handwashing and respiratory etiquette
    4. Cleaning and maintaining healthy facilities, including improving ventilation
    5. Contact tracing in combination with isolation and quarantine, in collaboration with the State, local, territorial, or Tribal health departments
    6. Diagnostic and screening testing
    7. Efforts to provide vaccinations to school communities
    8. Appropriate accommodations for children with disabilities with respect to health and safety policies
    9. Coordination with State and local health officials
  2. How the LEA will ensure continuity of services, including but not limited to services to address the following:
    1. student academic needs and
    2. student and staff social, emotional, mental health, and other needs, which may include student health and food services
ESSER III State Plan and Timeline

States were required to engage in meaningful consultation with stakeholders and submit a state plan for ESSER III Funds to the United States Department of Education (USDE). Receipt of all ESSER III funding is contingent upon approval of the state plan.

As required, DPI will distribute 90 percent of Wisconsin’s ESSER III allocation to LEAs. The plan also includes three required earmarks for activities and interventions that respond to students’ academic, social, and emotional needs and address the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on underrepresented student subgroups, including 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:

  • 5 percent for the implementation of evidence-based interventions aimed specifically at addressing learning loss, such as summer learning or summer enrichment, extended day, comprehensive afterschool programs, or extended school year programs
  • 1 percent for evidence-based summer enrichment programs
  • 1 percent for evidence-based comprehensive afterschool programs

DPI submitted a modified ESSER III state plan which includes Motion #57 to the US Department of Education for review on August 27, 2021. DPI re-submitted a further modified ESSER III state plan to the US Department of Education for review on November 1, 2021. The November 1, 2021, ESSER III state plan was reviewed by the US Department of Education and partially approved on December 6, 2021. DPI submitted this revised ESSER III state plan to USDE on February 8, 2022, and received approval from USDE on May 3, 2022, for the remaining use of the state set-aside reservations.

Fiscal Considerations

ESSER III provides LEAs with short-term relief funds to address the effects of COVID-19 on elementary and secondary schools. ESSER III is not an ongoing program to support long-term expenses. DPI encourages LEAs to spend down ESSER I, GEER, and ESSER II funds before spending ESSER III funds.

The grant performance period is from March 13, 2020, through September 30, 2024. If an LEA chooses to include costs from a prior year, and is outside the revenue recognition period for that year (most often 60 days after fiscal year end), those costs need to be documented after the fact. Costs from the current fiscal year, or from the previous year within its revenue recognition period, must be coded or re-coded to the ESSER III project.

LEAs intending to include special education (Fund 27) costs should take extra care about timely budgets and claims to avoid unintended IDEA Maintenance of Effort (MOE) consequences.

DPI has assigned WUFAR project 165 for ESSER III expenditures. ESSER III claim payment revenues are coded with WUFAR source 730, in the same fund as the original expenditures that were claimed. Although best practice is to align grant expenditures and revenues in the same fiscal year, DPI recognizes that the unique multi-year nature of the ESSER programs can make it difficult to do so. LEAs should discuss with their auditors how ESSER III activities are recorded and considered for compiling Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA).

ESSER III funds are not subject to a supplement-not-supplant requirement, and use of funds is very flexible. However, ESSER III funds are subject to the Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) and the federal government’s Uniform Grant Guidance (UGG), including the requirement that spending be necessary and reasonable.

Evidence-Based Improvement Strategies

ESSER III funds offer a unique opportunity for LEAs and their schools to change the systems and practices needed to improve student learning. LEAs are required to reserve at least 20% of ESSER III funds for evidence-based improvement strategies (EBIS) and ensure that those interventions respond to students’ social, emotional, and academic needs and address the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on underrepresented student subgroups. With this dedicated funding for EBIS to respond to needs caused by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, LEAs can invest fully in successful implementation of new or current EBIS to ensure all students thrive. ESSER III funds are available through September 30, 2024.

    The American Rescue Plan Act defines “evidence-based” as having the meaning in section 8101(21) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act which includes tiers of evidence. Examples of EBIS might include extended school day for students disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, after school programming, summer programming, the implementation of high-quality, standards-aligned curriculum, or practices outlined in Institute of Education Sciences (IES) practice guides for reading, writing, and math.

    The ESSER III Funds and EBIS One-page Summary document (PDF) is designed to support LEAs in preparing, deciding, planning, and budgeting the 20 percent investment toward Evidence-Based Intervention Strategies to address the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. See the ESSER III Funds and Evidence-Based Intervention Strategies (EBIS) Resource (Google Doc) for information on selecting evidence-based intervention strategies in WISEgrants. The ESSER III EBIS Cost Examples (Google Doc) includes a sample of the types of expenditures LEAs may use to reserve at least 20 percent for EBIS.

    Definitions of the tiers of evidence from the US Department of Education's Non-Regulatory Guidance: Using Evidence to Strengthen Education Investments:

    • Tier 1 Strong: Randomized, control research design
    • Tier 2 Moderate: Well-Implemented, quasi-experimental research design
    • Tier 3 Promising: Well-Designed, well-implemented correlational study
    • Tier 4 Demonstrating A Rationale: Promising practices with a well-designed logic model or theory of action, are supported by research, and includes ongoing efforts to examine the effects of such activity, strategy, or intervention.

    Additional Resources:

    Annual Performance Reporting

    ESSER III funds are subject to US Department of Education reporting requirements. See the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) and Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) Annual Reporting Requirements page for reporting details.

    Maintenance of Equity

    To receive ESSER III funds, LEAs must meet Maintenance of Equity requirements in fiscal years 2022 and 2023 to not reduce per-pupil spending or per-pupil staffing for high-poverty schools at a greater rate than the reductions (if any) that are applied to all schools in the LEA.

    See the American Rescue Plan Act ESSER III Maintenance of Equity page for details.

    Education Stabilization Funding Monitoring Guidance

    The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) developed an ESF Monitoring Guidance document (Google Doc) to provide local education agencies (LEAs) an understanding of DPI’s monitoring protocols for the federal formula ESF grants. The guide explains DPI’s monitoring process and what LEAs should expect for part of the process. The guide also includes links to resources to support the implementation of activities supported by ESF.

    Send ESSER III questions to essergrants@dpi.wi.gov