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
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. See the ESSER III Funds and Evidence-Based Improvement Strategies (EBIS) Resource. 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. Support Staff Retention with the Federal Stimulus Relief Funds (Google document) Davis-Bacon and Related Acts Compliance and Federal Stimulus Funds (Google document) How to Budget Construction in WISEgrants (Google document) 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 were given 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 were due to DPI by March 11, 2022. DPI staff will review applications in the order they are received. IMPORTANT NOTE FOR LEAs: There is no carryover in the traditional sense with the ESSER grants. The ESSER II, ESSER III, and EBIS grants are housed entirely within the 2021-2022 fiscal year within WISEgrants even though the period of performance on the grants extends through September 30, 2023 (ESSER II), and September 30, 2024 (ESSER III and EBIS). Because these grants are awarded each individually as distinct grant awards with extended periods of performance, the ESSER and GEER grants do not have carryover like a more traditional annual grant (Title I, IDEA, etc.). Instead of carryover, the entire allocation is available within the 2021-2022 grant year for the entire life of the grant. The same is true of ESSER I and GEER which were both be entirely housed within 2020-2021 year for the length of those grants which end September 30, 2022. The ESSER grants will not be loaded into the 2022-2023 grant years in WISEgrants or beyond, but LEAs will continue to have access to the funds through the end of the grant period by switching back to the prior years in WISEgrants. All LEAs' allocated ESSER funds are currently available for budgeting and claiming. Video Walkthrough of the ESSER III Application The ESSER III grant application will consist of the following: 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 $323,074 (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 were given 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 were 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. IMPORTANT NOTE FOR LEAs: There is no carryover in the traditional sense with the ESSER grants. The ESSER II, ESSER III, and EBIS grants are housed entirely within the 2021-2022 fiscal year within WISEgrants even though the period of performance on the grants extends through September 30, 2023 (ESSER II), and September 30, 2024 (ESSER III and EBIS). Because these grants are awarded each individually as distinct grant awards with extended periods of performance, the ESSER and GEER grants do not have carryover like a more traditional annual grant (Title I, IDEA, etc.). Instead of carryover, the entire allocation is available within the 2021-2022 grant year for the entire life of the grant. The same is true of ESSER I and GEER which were both be entirely housed within 2020-2021 year for the length of those grants which end September 30, 2022. The ESSER grants will not be loaded into the 2022-2023 grant years in WISEgrants or beyond, but LEAs will continue to have access to the funds through the end of the grant period by switching back to the prior years in WISEgrants. All LEAs' allocated ESSER funds are currently available for budgeting and claiming. 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. Please see the ESSER III American Rescue Plan (ARP) Afterschool and Out of School Time Grant Opportunity page for information on the ESSER III Afterschool and Out of School Time grant opportunities. The ESSER III Out-of-School Time Grant Start Guide technical assistance document is available for community-based organizations to use while budgeting and claiming ESSER III Out-of-School Time grant funds in WISEgrants. Please see the ESSER III American Rescue Plan (ARP) Summer School Grant Opportunity page for more information on the ESSER III Summer School grant opportunity. 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: To the extent present in or served by the LEA, LEAs must also consult with the following groups: In addition, LEAs must provide the public the opportunity to provide input to the ESSER III Plan and take such input into account. 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: LEAs must describe the following: Certifying the ESSER III Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services Plan in WISEgrants (Google Doc) technical assistance document. 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: 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. 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. 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: Additional Resources: 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. 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. The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) developed an Education Stabilization Funds (ESF) Monitoring Guidance document (Google Doc) to provide local educational agencies (LEAs) an understanding of DPI’s monitoring protocols for the federal formula ESSER and GEER Education Stabilization Fund (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. The ESSER grants staff are available during ESSER Office Hours. ESSER Office Hours will be offered twice each week for one hour: Office hours are a time to bring questions about the ESSER grant programs and get answers from DPI staff who support the ESSER grant programs. ESSER grants staff will not be presenting during the time, so this time is specifically for LEAs and those supporting LEAs to receive individualized assistance with ESSER grants from a DPI staff member, to ask questions, or to walk through a challenge in a district or school. Attendees may join the ESSER Office Hours Microsoft Teams virtual meeting space using this link at any time during the available hours noted above: Click here to join the meeting DPI staff will keep track of questions in this ESSER Office Hours Notes and Resources document, so if you do not attend the office hours, you can still see what types of questions are being asked and the responses provided by DPI staff. Please contact essergrants@dpi.wi.gov with questions about ESSER Office Hours.
Are you getting an automated WISEgrants email with the subject "Action Requested - Safe Return to In-Person and Continuity of Services Plan Certification"? Follow the steps in the Certifying the ESSER III Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services Plan in WISEgrants (Google Doc) technical assistance document to comply with the Safe Return plan requirement and satisfy the WISEgrants validation.
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.
Send ESSER III questions to essergrants@dpi.wi.gov