ESSER Spending Summary:
ESSER is part of government pandemic relief measures and stands for Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund.
- ESSER I = $2,313,082.18 in funding
- ESSER II = $9,511,882 in funding
- ESSER III = $21,401,735 in funding
The total sum of ESSER I, II, and III funds amounts to $33,226,699.18
ESSER I funds were allocated to the following areas:
- Staff salaries and benefits
- Distance Learning Devices
- Supplies and materials
- Software
- Chromebooks
- Air quality upgrades
- Special Education vans
- Child Nutrition food carts
- Sterilization cabinets
- Curriculum licenses
- Private school supports
An enumeration of planned ESSER II and III expenditures may be found below:
20% of ESSER II and III funds will be apportioned to interventions addressing learning loss, in accordance with federal requirements governing funding expenditure.
- This amounts to $6,182,723.40 for Bismarck Public Schools.
- Learning loss interventions correspond to two general categories.
- Classroom teachers, counselors, social workers, special education teachers and support staff, substitute teachers, instructional aides, and teacher leader positions.
- Extended day learning loss and enrichment (credit recovery, ACT prep, increased summer instruction and library services), social emotional learning supports for 2021-23, health needs and supplies, small group, individual, and explicit instruction, curriculum supports (parallel, digital curriculum, and online access), SBMH collaboration , technology supports in schools (computers, supplies, repairs).
- Staffing:
- Classroom teachers, counselors, social workers, special education teachers and support staff, substitute teachers, instructional aides, and teacher leader positions.
- Materials/Supplies/Misc. Supports:
- Extended day learning loss and enrichment (credit recovery, ACT prep, increased summer instruction and library services), social emotional learning supports for 2021-23, health needs and supplies, instruction, curriculum supports (parallel, digital curriculum, and online access), SBMH collaboration, and technology supports in schools (computers, supplies, and repairs).
80% of ESSER II and III funds may be spent in a manner that ensures future tax avoidance.
- This equates to $24,730,892.60 for Bismarck Public Schools
- Addressing facility needs identified during BPS’s three-year planning phase will allow for tax avoidance and may include:
- Expansion of Legacy High School
- Expansion of south Bismarck facilities
- Additional Career and Technical Education programming
- Updating and maintaining current facilities.
- Ice/Activities facilities
