Caesar Rodney School District
ESSER III Plan
September 2021
ESSER III Funding Focus Areas
The Caesar Rodney School District selected 10 of the 14 categories to allocate the funding provided to CR.
$8,853,982
ESSER III Funding Focus Areas
2. Develop strategies and implement public health protocols including, to the greatest extent practicable, policies in line with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on reopening and operating schools to effectively maintain the health and safety of students, educators, and other staff.
$750,000
ESSER III Funding Focus Areas
3. Coordinating preparedness and response efforts with State, local, Tribal, and territorial public health departments to prevent, prepare for, and respond to COVID-19.
$360,000
ESSER III Funding Focus Areas
CR did not allocate ESSER III funding to #4 and #5 because we used previous ESSER I and II funding in these areas.
#4. Training and professional development on sanitizing and minimizing the spread of infectious diseases.
#5. Purchasing supplies to sanitize and clean the LEA's facilities.
ESSER III Funding Focus Areas
6. Repairing and improving school facilities to reduce risk of virus transmission and exposure to environmental health hazards.
$5,650,000
ESSER III Funding Focus Areas
7. Improving indoor air quality.
$1,000,000
8. Addressing the needs of children from low-income families, children with disabilities, English learners, racial and ethnic minorities, students experiencing homelessness, and foster care youth.
$50,000
ESSER III Funding Focus Areas
CR did not allocate funding in # 9 and # 10. We used previous funding for these two focus areas.
9. Developing and implementing procedures and systems to improve the preparedness and response efforts of LEAs.
10. Planning for or implementing activities during long-term closures, including providing meals to eligible students and providing technology for online learning.
ESSER III Funding Focus Areas
11. Purchasing educational technology (including hardware, software, connectivity, assistive technology, and adaptive equipment) for students that aids in regular and substantive educational interaction between students and their classroom instructors, including students from low-income families and children with disabilities.
$600,000
ESSER III Funding Focus Areas
12. Providing mental health services and supports, including through the implementation of evidence-based full-service community schools and the hiring of counselors.
$100,000
* Funding to support this initiative was also included in #1.
ESSER III Funding Focus Areas
13. Planning and implementing activities related to summer learning and supplemental after-school programs.
$50,000
14. Other activities that are necessary to maintain operation of and continuity of and services, including continuing to employ existing or hiring new LEA and school staff.
$1,094,802
Total ESSER III Funding
$18,508,784.00
ESSER III General Uses Part 2
Part 1 was previously posted to the website and can be found here.
Part 2: 1. The extent to which and how ARP ESSER Funds will be used by the LEA to implement prevention and mitigation strategies that are, to the greatest extent practicable, in line with the most recent guidance:
The District intends to use the funds to provide all of our buildings with the proper personal protective equipment, protective barriers, and cleaning supplies to ensure buildings are properly sanitized and our staff and students are protected. The District will also assess its buildings HVAC systems for appropriate air quality and remediate as needed. Cleaning protocols are in line with CDC guidelines.
The District budgeted funds to repair school facilities to improve air quality, including replacing items such as carpet, ceiling tiles, and furniture that are moldy and/or porous, and replace them with items/materials that are free of mold and easier to disinfect. Improvements also include renovations to our newly acquired building to provide a safe space to spread out students in our severely overcrowded middle schools and allow for proper social distancing. An HVAC engineer will be contracted to assess the air quality in all of the District's buildings and make improvements as necessary.
Further, funds may be used to hire additional classroom support to reduce class size as needed for social distancing. Additional furniture is also needed in some buildings to allow proper social distancing during lunch.
ESSER III General Uses Part 2
2. How will the LEA use the mandatory 20% set-aside to address the academic impact of lost instruction time through the implementation of evidence based interventions?
ESSER funds will be used to purchase evidence-based curriculum to accelerate learning. The District will also hire additional staff needed to maintain smaller class sizes and address learning loss. We are expanding performing arts programs, particularly in the middle schools, to allow more students the opportunity to participate as a result lost instruction time during the hybrid school year and Funds were budgeted to provide activity buses after school to allow students to stay for after school supports. Funds are also budgeted to assist with supplies for summer and after school programming.
Funds are dedicated to purchase Social Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum and hire additional SEL teachers for each of our buildings to assist students in transitioning back to full time in-person instruction and the effects of the pandemic.
The District will use ESSER funds to support a Special Education Supervisor as a result of increased needs to special education students as they return from remote or hybrid environments.
ESSER III General Uses Part 2
3. How will the LEA will use the remaining ARP ESSER funds consistent with the statutory requirements?
Funds are dedicated to the District's transportation needs to ensure all students are provided with transportation to school.
Funds will also be used to support targeted students by purchasing items such as washer and dryer to allow students to discreetly clean their clothes, personal care products, school supplies, and other items as needed.
Technology continues to be a need to support our learning platforms, including updating network switches, chromebooks, smartboards, etc.
The District will use ESSER funds to support the District's recruitment and retention efforts, as well as to support buildings and grounds work at various schools due to high custodial turnover.
ESSER III General Uses Part 2
4. How will the LEA ensure that the ARP ESSER funded interventions, including but not limited to the 20% set-aside, will respond to the academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs of all students, and particularly those students disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic including students from low-income families, students of color, English Learners, children with disabilities, students experiencing homelessness, children and youth in foster care, and migratory students?
Funds are dedicated to purchase Social Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum and hire additional SEL teachers for each of our buildings to assist students in transitioning back to full time in-person instruction and the effects of the pandemic. Funds will also be used to purchase a program to screen students' mental health and wellness three times a year, and provide professional development for District staff on how to appropriately assist students in improving mental health and wellness.
Based on data collected, technology, connectivity, time, and SEL support continues to be a need for students in targeted populations. In addition, supplies (personal and academic) continues to be a need and the District has budgeted for these items. Also, the District is purchasing curriculum and related materials to provide additional supports based on testing data and will continue to assess and monitor student growth.
ESSER III General Uses Part 2
5. Describe the promising practices the LEA has implemented to accelerate learning.
The District will analyze end of year data to look for gaps in learning at each grade level. In addition, we will use the beginning of the year assessments to determine where each student is academically. Once we have the initial data, we will provide targeted instruction to support individual needs. We will monitor growth of students and make adjustments to supports as needed. The District intends to use funds to purchase evidence-based curriculum focused on accelerated learning and hire additional staff to provide programming after school and/or in the summer to address lessons not taught or provide additional supports as needed based on individual student needs. Additional staff will also be hired to reduce class sizes to allow for more targeted instruction. Finally, pacing guides have been updated to support accelerated learning.
District Needs Assessment
Describe your LEA’s highest priority academic, social, emotional, and/or mental health needs for the remainder of the 2020-2021 school year (if applicable) and for the 2021-2022 school year related to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on each of the following student groups:
Subgroups:
Students from low-income families
* Technology needs * Access * Additional curricular materials * Books to support instruction * Before / after school support (additional time) with transportation
Students from each gender and racial or ethnic background used by the State for reporting purposes
See chart below * Please note, we only tested approximately 50% of our students last year. The rest opted out. * Math is a key priority this year. * The district will analyze our beginning of the year data.
Subgroups
English Learners and Migratory students
* Language barriers for communication * Technology needs * Access * Additional curricular materials * Books to support instruction
Students with Disabilities
* Access * Time * Materials * Monitoring of goals on IEP
Students experiencing homelessness and foster care
* SEL support * Supplies (personal and academic) * Connectivity * Devices * Additional time
Subgroups
Other groups of students identified by the LEA (e.g., youth involved in the criminal justice system, students who have missed the most in-person instruction during the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years, students who did not consistently participate in remote instruction when offered during school building closures, LGBTQ+ students)
* Technology needs * Access * Additional curricular materials * Books to support instruction * SEL support
Data - ELA Smarter Balanced
Data - Math Smarter Balanced