Monday, June 20, 2022
Per Wisconsin’s Motion 57 (outlining the state’s use of the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Fund III under the American Rescue Plan), LEAs and CESAs are eligible to receive reimbursement for vendor training costs offered by Voyager Sopris (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS)) or another program endorsed by the Center for Effective Reading Instruction as an Accredited Independent Teacher Training Program. The reimbursement amounts are set at $4,000 per eligible agency; $2,000,000 in total statewide.
For those LEAs and CESAs who choose to participate, the funding is available for any eligible training costs that were incurred in FY 2021-22 as well as future training costs through June 30, 2024. Only the cost of the vendor payment is eligible for reimbursement. Costs related to staff compensation, substitute teachers, employee travel, stipends and other administrative fees are not eligible for reimbursement.
On June 21, 2022, LEA and CESA WISEgrants Administrators will see a menu item for “LETRS Reimbursement Participation” under their ARPA program menu in WISEgrants (FY 2021-22).
Agencies must indicate whether they plan to participate in the LETRS reimbursement opportunity by Friday, July 8, 2022. Please take note that each agency that wishes to seek reimbursement must notify DPI through this process.
CESAs or other LEAs cannot participate on behalf of a group of agencies. If an agency chooses to participate, additional information will be collected on expenses incurred during FY 2021-22 and planned obligations for FY 2022-23. Agencies who miss the July 8, 2022, deadline will have another opportunity to participate in FY 2022-23 if funding becomes available.
Please see LETRS Reimbursement - Technical Assistance or email essergrants@dpi.wi.gov for additional information and WISEgrants application technical assistance.