ESSER Series Part 3: ESSER III Commitments
ESSER Series Part 3: ESSER III
Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund
ESSER by the Numbers: Middletown City Schools received approximately $3 million in ESSER I, $12 million in ESSER II, and $26 million in ESSER III.
At the February 14, 2022 Board of Education meeting, the board approved $12.4 million ESSER III funds to invest in the students.
Instructional Resources | $4,600,000
The district conducted a district wide needs assessment with staff to determine strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities to ensure the most effective resources are provided to classroom instructors. In addition, a district wide Math audit is now several months into the process. With the input of the staff, the Curriculum & Innovation Department has identified a comprehensive list of areas for the district to enhance the instructional supplies, materials and resources. The plan would serve core and encore areas across the district. Projected costs for the plan total $4.6 million to serve the range of priority areas. Once the budget for the plan is established, the district would proceed with the collaborative process for adopting and selecting the high quality supplies, materials, and resources.
Learning Recovery & Extended Learning Plan | $6,000,000
The distinct has created a comprehensive, whole child, Learning Recovery & Extended Learning plan to support the students. The plan extends the student supports and services beyond the current ESSER II areas, and requires the use of ESSER III funds to finance the new portions of the plan to support the whole child through Summer of 2024. Key areas of the plan focus on SEL, accelerating learning, extending instructional time, student supports, incentives, and resources. The projected costs for the plan is $6 million. The entire Learning Recovery & Extended Learning Plan will be publicly posted once finalized.
Community Based Youth Initiatives | $100,000
The Coalition for a Healthy Middletown, is leading the charge to create a community based Leadership Coalition. A focus of the coalition would be to begin unifying community agencies to provide youth experiences to provide positive youth opportunities and strengthen the social and emotional state of our youth. MCSD has been invited to be part of the Leadership Coalition. It is recommended that $100,000 of ESSER III funds be allocated to provide financial support to youth based experiences generated by the Coalition for a Healthy Middletown’s Leadership Coalition.
Passport to Tomorrow K-12 Pathways | $1,000,000
The MCSD strategic vision includes K-12 pathways for all students. As shared in the implementation timeline overview, the district will be implementing a series of pathways over the next few years. The district is recommending $1 million of ESSER III funds be allocated to assist with the course offerings, programs, and resources necessary to offer the K-12 pathways for students.
