Coronavirus Stimulus Funds (ESSER, GEER, CRRSA and ARPA)

In response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the Red Creek Central School District has been appropriated federal funds to support recovery from the impacts of the pandemic.  In accordance with guidance of the American Rescue Plan Act, the Red Creek Central School District proposes to use these funds to support student needs as described below.  Further specifics of the timeline and expenditures for each part of the ARPA can be found on the last page of this plan.  As this funding is obligated to be spent during a certain timeframe with certain percentages being allocated to each year, this multi-year plan may be amended by the district in response to future needs.   Such amendments will be submitted to New York State for approval.  

Safely Returning Students to In-Person Instruction and Maximizing In-Person Instruction Time 

In the summer of 2020, the Red Creek Central School District developed a plan to secure the necessary personal protective equipment, and additional sanitizing and cleaning materials to return as many students to in-person learning as possible.  The unaidable portion of these items and several of the cleaning costs associated with sanitization guidelines resulted in extra costs for the district.  In consideration of this, the Red Creek Central School District will use a portion of the ARP funding to cover these costs that were necessary to ensure the safe return to in-person learning during the 2020-2021 school year and that will provide for safe, continued in-person learning in each school year that follows.  The district purchased individual student desks, to accommodate the recommended spacing between students during instruction and in eating areas.      

As the district moves forward from the initial onset of the pandemic, the district will continue to provide timely professional development to staff to support their knowledge of content and pedagogy as it relates to improving student achievement.  Such professional development will include high-impact instructional strategies, implementing formative assessments, using data to inform instructional decision making, training about the science of reading, implementing evidence-based strategies to support the development of reading and writing skills across all content areas, and content-specific professional development.  This provision of high-quality professional development will ensure that staff are working purposefully at their highest potential to leverage the knowledge of academic research to best impact the achievement of all Red Creek learners.   

Operating Schools and Meeting the Needs of Students 

As the Red Creek Central School District continues to operate schools and meet the needs of students, the district will continue to provide meals to students and families throughout the community who are in need.  The district will continue to maintain an in-district clothing closet and partner with the local food pantry to accommodate students and families that are in need.  To continue to address basic needs of students, the district will continue to implement a Community Schools Model in which the district partners with community agencies to provide access to food, clothing, mental health supports, family supports, out of school day programming and afterschool childcare.  As per the attached funding breakdown, funds will be used annually to support student access to mental health services including school counselors during the school day and contracted mental health counselors during and outside of the regular school day.  The district will continue to research and implement social-emotional learning curricula that support teachers in providing community building activities that develop the emotional intelligence and pro-social behavior of students.  These efforts will include providing professional development for school staff on addressing the needs of students that existed before the pandemic as well as new or changing needs that might exists because of the pandemic.  

Additionally, the district will continue to invest in facilities improvements related to Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) as well as other improvements related to upgrading student learning spaces to ensure safe, engaging spaces that are focused on the social, emotional, and academic development of all learners.  The district will also invest in upgrading transportation ventilation. 

Purchasing Educational Technology 

In 2016, the Red Creek Central School District launched its 1:1 Chromebook Initiative.  That initial investment made by the district was in alignment with personalizing learning; this also allowed students and teachers to have the technology access that was needed to provide virtual learning opportunities.  The district will continue to invest in repairing, upgrading, and replacing Chromebooks for students each year.  With the challenges of virtual learning, the district provided cameras with tri-pods to enhance online asynchronous instruction.   Additionally, the District will continue to work to upgrade classroom technology by replacing outdated SMART boards with new interactive whiteboards or display boards to which teachers will be able to screencast from their laptops for regular classroom instructional activities.  This will ensure that classroom technology remains current and an integrated part of everyday instruction.   

Addressing the Impacts of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Students 

The district funds social emotional learning initiatives with grants other than ARPA.  The district has established a multi-tiered system of supports for students focused on social and emotional needs.  Some of these statewide best practices that have been implemented include positive behavioral interventions and supports at all grade levels UPK-12.  These best practices provide ways for students to express how they have been affected; this includes use of surveys, community circles, and standardized curriculum.  Academic data is being reviewed to develop programming that will be supported by the ARPA funding.  This data includes universal screeners, unit assessments, progress monitoring, attendance, etc.  MTSS teams at each building level will review student data to create plans to address the impacts of Covid-19 as it applies to individual students as well as to groups of students.  This might include creating an intervention or enrichment plan for an individual student, implementing social-emotional lessons with a grade level, or curriculum revisions to support the spiraled instruction of missed content.  The impacts of Covid-19 on students will be assessed as a baseline.  Follow-up survey and diagnostic data will be collected annually, at least, to monitor the results of actions taken by the district to address and minimize the impact of the pandemic on students.  

Implementing Evidence-Based Strategies to Meet Students’ Social, Emotional Mental Health and Academic Needs 

Under the leadership of the MTSS coordinator and building level administrators, the district will review existing MTSS procedures and practices to ensure the implementation of evidence-based strategies, supports, interventions and programming to meet the needs of students.  This will include the implementation of a social-emotional curriculum at each building level, increased mental health education, and increased academic interventions available to all students.  Beginning in the 2021-2022 school year, the district will fund tier II PBIS  intervention/enrichment teachers that will work within the MTSS systems to provide targeted, research-based interventions to accelerate student learning.  These interventions will be monitored both to ensure student success and to ensure that evidence-based strategies are implemented with fidelity.  Students will have increased access to individual and small group tutoring outside of the regular school day to support academic needs at all levels.  The district will continue to partner with Finger Lakes Community College to offer concurrent enrollment college courses to high school students while also leveraging the partnership with FLCC to gain access to career counseling for the students of RCCSD.  In an effort to support social, emotional, and mental health, professional development will be provided for staff to encourage the development of student self-awareness, self-regulation skills and the development of emotional intelligence.  Additional training will continue to be offered to: address implicit bias, support students who have experienced trauma, support students from poverty, teach and foster resilience, meet the needs of LGBTQ+ students, and provide equitable experiences for all Red Creek learners.  To support the academic needs of students, professional development will be offered as listed above with additional professional development being provided as the district develops a deeper understanding of the impacts of Covid.  The district will also work to provide increased access to high-quality, rigorous learning materials to support personalized, rigorous instruction across all content areas.  This will include classroom access to guided reading materials at the elementary level, phonemic awareness instructional materials, math manipulatives and other curricular resources needed to move students to mastery of content.  These curricular resources, in some cases, will be developed by the instructional staff of Red Creek in conjunction with other teachers while in other cases they will be purchased curricular resources when evidence warrants such a purchase.  

Offering Evidence Based Summer, After-School and Other Extended Learning Enrichment Programs 

The district will continue to provide enrichment opportunities to students during the summer and after school as have been provided in the past through the 21st Century summer and after school programs.  Such enrichment programs will include opportunities for students to explore workshops and activities related to their personal interests to build student attachment and connection to school while also developing positive school related experiences.  Emphasis will be placed on supporting college and career exploration opportunities and development for students while also providing them with the opportunity to further develop their 21st century skills of collaboration, communication, creativity, and critical thinking.  These enrichment opportunities will employ professional development for staff to ensure that social, emotional, and academic growth is embedded into each opportunity for enrichment.   

Supporting Early Childhood Education 

As an ongoing object of our Universal Pre-K Program, the district will continue to provide community outreach and parenting supports to facilitate parental engagement in their children’s education.  The district will continue to work with partner agencies to ensure that UPK is age-appropriate and scaffolded to support student transition to regular elementary education.  This will include increased access to research-based instructional materials to support the development of phonemic awareness skills of students, increased access to high-quality, culturally responsive classroom texts as well as age-appropriate technology access.  Coaching and training will be available to parents to provide support for classroom instruction from home to promote positive learning experiences and positive school-home relationships and connections.  Professional development will be provided for early childhood educators on balancing the age-appropriate implementation of play with increasing academic needs at that level.  Additional technology devices or applications might be implemented at this level should there be sufficient evidence of effectiveness to warrant such purchase.  

Please see below for more specific data regarding the timeline and allocation of funds from each of the federal initiatives.  This plan will continue to adapt over the next four years as the district continually monitors and analyzes student, staff and district progress and needs.  

Grant	Total Allocation	Grant Dates	Uses/Program Overview	Relevant Documents:  Application, FS10 Budget, Budget Narrative
ARP- Homeless Children and Youth Part II	$5,173	3/13/2020 – 9/30/2024	The ARP Homeless Children and Youth fund was created for the purposes of identifying homeless children and youth, providing wraparound services considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and providing assistance needed to enable homeless children and youth to attend school and participate fully in school activities, including in-person instruction as well as summer learning and enrichment programs.	Application  FS10 Budget  Budget Narrative
ARP ESSER State Reserves	5% State Level Reserve: Addressing the Impact of Lost Instructional Time: $873,989    1% State Level Reserve: Comprehensive After School: $174,803    1% State Level Reserve: Summer Learning: $174,803	3/13/2020-9/30/2024	The federal ARP statute requires that States reserve ARP ESSER funds for three State-level reservations for evidence-based activities and interventions that respond to students’ social, emotional, mental health, and academic needs and address the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on 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.  At least 5% of these funds must be reserved to carry out activities to address the academic impact of lost instructional time by supporting the implementation of evidence based interventions.  At least 1 percent of these funds must be reserved to carry out the implementation of evidence-based summer enrichment programs.  At least 1 percent of these funds must be reserved to carry out the implementation of evidence-based comprehensive after-school programs.	Application    FS10 Budget- Learning Loss Reserve    FS10 Budget Addition     Budget Narrative- Learning Loss Reserve   FS10 Budget- Afterschool Reserve   Budget Narrative- Afterschool Reserve   FS10 Budget- Summer Reserve   Budget Narrative- Summer Reserve
ARP ESSER III 90%	$1,957,592	3/13/2020-9/30/2024	This fund was established to help meet a wide range of needs arising from the coronavirus pandemic, including reopening schools safely, sustaining their safe operation, and addressing students’ social, emotional, mental health, and academic needs resulting from the pandemic. The State must allocate these funds to local school districts based on their respective shares of funds received under Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) in fiscal year (FY) 2020. The ARP Act requires local school districts to reserve at least 20% of their 90% ARP-ESSER allocation to address learning loss through the implementation of evidence-based interventions, such as summer learning or summer enrichment, extended day, comprehensive afterschool programs, or extended school year programs, and ensure that such interventions respond to students’ academic, social, and emotional needs and address the disproportionate impact of the coronavirus on economically disadvantaged students, children with disabilities, English learners, racial and ethnic minorities, migrant students, students experiencing homelessness, and children and youth in foster care.  Remaining LEA funds may be used for a wide range of activities to address needs arising from the coronavirus pandemic, including any activity authorized by the ESEA, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA), or Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (Perkins CTE).   Specifically, ARP ESSER funds may be used to 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, as well as:   coordinating preparedness and response efforts with State, local, Tribal, and territorial public health departments to prevent, prepare for, and respond to COVID-19;  training and professional development on sanitizing and minimizing the spread of infectious diseases;   purchasing supplies to sanitize and clean the LEA’s facilities;   repairing and improving school facilities to reduce risk of virus transmission and exposure to environmental health hazards;   improving indoor air quality;   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;   developing and implementing procedures and systems to improve the preparedness and response efforts of LEAs;   planning for or implementing activities during long-term closures, including providing meals to eligible students and providing technology for online learning;   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;   providing mental health services and supports, including through the implementation of evidence based full-service community schools and the hiring of counselors;   planning and implementing activities related to summer learning and supplemental after-school programs;   addressing learning loss; and   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	Application   FS10 Budget    Budget Narrative
CRRSA Act (ESSER II)	GEER: $0    ESSER: $871,015	3/13/2020-9/30/2023	A local school district may use ESSER funds for the broad range of activities listed in section 313(d) of the CRRSA Act:   Any activity authorized by the ESEA, including the Native Hawaiian Education Act and the Alaska Native Educational Equity, Support, and Assistance Act (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.).   Any activity authorized by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) (20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.).   Any activity authorized by the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA) (29 U.S.C. 3271 et seq.).   Any activity authorized by the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (Perkins V) (20 U.S.C. 2301 et seq.).   Any activity authorized by subtitle B of title VII of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (McKinney-Vento) (42 U.S.C. 11431 et seq.).2   Coordinating preparedness and response efforts of LEAs with State, local, Tribal, and territorial public health departments, and other relevant agencies, to improve coordinated responses among such entities to prevent, prepare for, and respond to COVID-19.   Providing principals and other school leaders with the resources necessary to address the needs of their individual schools.   Activities to address the unique needs of low-income children or students, students with disabilities, English learners, racial and ethnic minorities, students experiencing homelessness, and children and youth in foster care, including how outreach and service delivery will meet the needs of each population.   Developing and implementing procedures and systems to improve the preparedness and response efforts of LEAs.   Training and professional development for staff of the LEA on sanitation and minimizing the spread of infectious diseases.   Purchasing supplies to sanitize and clean the facilities of the LEA, including buildings operated by such LEA.   Planning for, coordinating, and implementing activities during long-term closures, including providing meals to eligible students, providing technology for online learning to all students, providing guidance for carrying out requirements under the IDEA and ensuring other education services can continue to be provided consistent with all Federal, State, and local requirements.   Purchasing educational technology (including hardware, software, and connectivity) for students who are served by the LEA that aids in regular and substantive educational interaction between students and their classroom instructors, including low-income students and students with disabilities, which may include assistive technology or adaptive equipment.   Providing mental health services and supports, including through the implementation of evidence based full-service community schools.   Planning and implementing activities related to summer learning and enrichment and supplemental after-school programs, including providing classroom instruction or online learning during the summer months and addressing the needs of low-income students, students with disabilities, English learners, migrant students, students experiencing homelessness, and children and youth in foster care.   Addressing the academic impact of lost instructional time6 among an LEA’s students, including low-income students, students with disabilities, English learners, racial and ethnic minorities, students experiencing homelessness, and children and youth in foster care, including by— a. Administering and using high-quality assessments that are valid and reliable to accurately assess students’ academic progress and assist educators in meeting students’ academic needs, including through differentiating instruction. b. Implementing evidence-based activities to meet the comprehensive needs of students. c. Providing information and assistance to parents and families on how they can effectively support students, including in a distance learning environment. d. Tracking student attendance and improving student engagement in distance education.  School facility repairs and improvements to enable operation of schools to reduce risk of virus transmission and exposure to environmental health hazards, and to support student health needs.   Inspection, testing, maintenance, repair, replacement, and upgrade projects to improve the indoor air quality in school facilities, including mechanical and non-mechanical heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems, filtering, purification and other air cleaning, fans, control systems, and window and door repair and replacement.   Developing strategies and implementing public health protocols including, to the greatest extent practicable, policies in line with guidance from the CDC for the reopening and operation of school facilities to effectively maintain the health and safety of students, educators, and other staff.   Other activities that are necessary to maintain the operation of and continuity of services in the LEA and continuing to employ existing staff of the LEA.	Application   FS10 Budget    Budget Narrative

 

For additional information regarding the use of funds from ESSER, GEER and ARPA Acts, please see the following FAQ document from the United States Department of Education.

FAQ