ESSER III ARPA Funds

(updated July 14, 2021)

Dear District Administrators,

We know that there are many questions around the third federal stimulus package for schools, referred to as ESSER III or the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). This communication is meant to give you the most up-to-date information about those funds.

Ninety percent of the ARPA funds will go to school districts and independent charter schools (LEAs) based on their Title I, Part A allocations. Under the motion approved by the legislative Joint Committee on Finance, LEAs whose Title I, Part A based allocation is less than $781 per pupil are eligible for additional ESSER III ARPA funds to raise their award to $781 per pupil if the LEA provided in-person instruction for at least 50 percent of the 2020-21 school year. If funds within that specific ESSER allocation remain after that distribution, the remaining LEAs (with less than $781 per pupil) may be eligible for additional ESSER III ARPA funds, based on the LEA’s share of in-person hours provided in the 2020-21 school year. You can find additional details about this formula at https://dpi.wi.gov/policy-budget/laws-regulations and find updated information about the Department of Public Instruction’s (DPI) collection of hours of instruction at https://dpi.wi.gov/sfs/updated-esser-ii-iii-hours-instruction.

Unique to ESSER III ARPA funds, school districts will be required to hold feedback sessions on their use of ARPA funds but must use at least 20 percent of those funds to address learning loss by providing evidence-based instructional strategies, targeting the students most impacted by COVID-19.

The remaining 80 percent of funds available to school districts are meant to be used to safely open and operate schools and ensure students’ academic needs are met, as well as meeting the needs of student and staff social, emotional, and mental health.

Also unique to ESSER III ARPA funds, school districts must ensure Maintenance of Equity. The Maintenance of Equity provision is designed to ensure that currently or historically marginalized students (e.g., students of color, students whose primary language is not English, students experiencing homelessness, students experiencing poverty, students with IEPs) receive an equitable share of these funds since these students likely experienced the greatest negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The DPI had a choice of how to use the other 10 percent of Wisconsin’s ARPA funds. Following state law, the DPI submitted a draft plan for use of those funds to Wisconsin’s Joint Committee on Finance in April 2021. The committee revised the plan to require the DPI to spend those funds as follows:

• $1.2 million will be spent on administrative costs;
• $5 million will be spent on reading initiatives as prescribed by state legislators;
• $2.4 million total goes to the Wisconsin Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired, the Wisconsin School for the Deaf, and Syble Hopp and Lakeland schools;
• $15.4 million for competitive grants to school districts to expand summer learning opportunities beginning in Summer 2022, in two rounds, with round one grants only open to school districts eligible for Sparsity Aid in fiscal year 2021 and round two grants open to any other district if funds remain; and
• $15.4 million for competitive grants to school districts as early as Winter 2022, for after school programming in two rounds with round one grants only open to school districts eligible for Sparsity Aid in fiscal year 2021 and round two grants open to any other district if funds remain.

The DPI wants to support students, families, and schools to the best of our ability with these funds while following requirements the state legislature has put into law. The DPI is currently holding feedback sessions to determine how we can best support school districts given the federal requirements for use of these funds (see stakeholder engagement form). The DPI is also developing guidance about ESSER III ARPA funds and their unique requirements.

The DPI is finalizing its ESSER III ARPA plan to submit to the U.S. Department of Education. Once this plan is approved, Wisconsin DPI will receive these funds and will then be able to allocate ESSER III ARPA funds to LEAs, meaning that you will likely see these funds in Fall 2021.

Sincerely,