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June 22, 2021

American Rescue Plan: District ESSER III Plan

On April 21, 2021, the U.S. Department of Education (USED) released its American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ARP ESSER or ESSER III) interim final requirements related to district ESSER III plans and district plans for a safe return to in-person instruction and continuity of services. (ESSER III State and Local Plan Requirements)

Each district receiving ESSER III funds must:

  • Develop a plan regarding its proposed uses of ESSER III funds, including engaging in meaningful consultation with all required stakeholders and providing the public opportunity to provide comments during plan development.
  • Submit an ESSER III plan to the Department through the Consolidated Accountability and Support Application (CASA).
  • Make the plan publicly available on its website in an understandable and accessible format.

This plan is due in full by August 23, 2021.

The distributions of these funds are based on the Title I funding formula, which are the funds providing financial assistance to local educational agencies for children from low-income families. Due to Title I allotments, Ankeny Schools will receive the lowest amount per pupil in the state of Iowa through the ESSER III funds.

For reference, Ankeny has and will receive the following from ESSER funds:

ESSER I $219,062
ESSER II $830,338
ESSER III $1,864,820

Of the $1,864,820 Ankeny will receive in ESSER III 20%, or $372,964, is required to be spent on what is deemed required continuous learning. The remaining $1,491,856 is to be used toward COVID-related expenditures.

The Proposed Ankeny ESSER III Plan is below:

Summer Term (20% required continuous learning)

Summer Term: The 2021 Ankeny Summer term serves three main groups.

  1. K-5 Literacy and Math Skill building: This program’s purpose is to strengthen students’ skills in literacy and math through interventions tailored to prioritized standards for students in danger of retention and students with current intervention services.
  2. 6-8 Literacy and Math: This program’s purpose is to strengthen students’ skills in literacy and math through interventions tailored to prioritized standards for students who have experienced course failure or students currently receiving intervention services.
  3. 9-12 Credit Recovery: This program’s purpose is to recover credits due to course failure in a class required for graduation or to accrue enough credits to be reasonably on track for graduation with grade-level peers for students 9-12 who have failed a required course for graduation or who need credit in order to stay on-track for graduation.
 $372,964
FY21 Estimated COVID-related Salary and Benefits

This line item will go toward supporting the following positions for the previous fiscal year: human resources compliance specialist, a district nurse, building-specific teacher and nurse substitutes.

 $784,500
FY21 Mitigation Supplies

This line item will include the purchases of PPE, cleaning supplies, printing of instructional materials, filters for HVAC, etc. for the previous fiscal year.

 $344,376
FY21 Summer Academy Expenses

The Ankeny Summer Academy is a three-day professional development conference for Ankeny teachers from national and local experts, including multiple sessions taught by Ankeny staff. It provides an opportunity for licensure credits and continuing education. This year’s summer academy featured keynote speakers on behavior strategies, engaging students in thinking, and grading. In addition, teachers had access to courses specific to their content area, social-emotional-behavioral health training, Canvas training, mental health for staff training, equity training, and more. This line item includes the facility rental, presenter fees, and attendee stipends for sessions related to COVID.

$243,700
FY22 Canvas Licenses

Canvas is a web-based learning management system purchased to support the online integration of learning. The Canvas learning management system allows Ankeny Community Schools to provide a consistent platform for staff, students, and families and allows for equitable access to their learning, regardless of our district’s delivery model.

 $93,400
FY21 Chromebook Carts for PreK-Grade 3

This line item allowed the district to bring PreK-Grade 3 to a 1:1 device ratio to provide access to technology for those students during the period of time the district was in a hybrid and/or remote learning model. With school being offered fully in-person, those devices now stay at the school building and are utilized throughout the school day to support learning.

 $25,880
Total $1,864,820

The public is invited to provide feedback on the proposed plan through July 2, 2021, which was also reviewed at the June 2021 School Improvement Advisory Council (SIAC) meeting. You may provide your feedback via the below form. Thank you.