School system to apply for new COVID relief

HAMLET — The Richmond County Board of Education voted unanimously to apply for the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds II and III (ESSER).

The funds come from the U.S. Department of Education through the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI). Approximately 90% of those funds go to local education agencies. The percentage of money that each county receives is the same as their Title I allotment. Title I-eligible schools have low-income families make up 40% of their enrollment.

Dr. Pam Patterson, director of Federal Programs/Title I, said that there have been meetings with superintendents, principals and the directors of individual departments to identify needs for improvements in the schools.

“We’ve been planning out three years forward for these funds that we are about to receive,” Patterson said.

The ESSER I funds, available through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, focused on remote learning. RCS received $2.8 million. It was primarily used for technology devices, hot spots, software, extended hours for IT, PPE for students and staff, curriculum development and supplies and nurse salaries.

The now-approved applications for ESSER II and III are less involved with remote instruction and focus on a return to in-person learning.

ESSER II and III are required to address summer learning and learning loss, which refers to the gaps that have showed up in student achievement due to the pandemic. RCS would receive $9.8 million from ESSER II and just below $22 million from ESSER III.

ESSER III requires a 20% minimum, or about $4.3 million from RCS, to address learning loss.

“I’m really pleased to see that there’s money for learning loss,” Chairman Wiley Mabe said. “We know that that’s a huge thing.”

Patterson agreed that there have been a lot of negative trends in student achievement stemming from the coronavirus.

ESSER III requires a 20% minimum, or about $4.3 million from RCS, to address learning loss.

Patterson said it’s difficult to project budgets for the next three years, but that the application and budget can be amended as needs arise.

Some districts have not used all of their ESSER I funds. Patterson explained that because of the influx of funds from the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund (GEER), and the Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF), district’s were compelled to use money from those allotments because of earlier deadlines. The money not spent by the deadline is unable to be used by the school system.

ESSER I expires September 30, 2022. ESSER II expires on the same day in 2023, while ESSER III expires the following year.

“We are being diligent about using it to our best ability to help our students,” Patterson said.

Both applications for the ESSER funds are due by May 7. It’s now subject to approval from NCDPI.