In response to overwhelming customer requests, TransACTParentNotices has launched a new feature that allows staff in education agencies to self-onboard. 

The U.S. Department of Education (USED) recently issued new regulations for the federal grant program,Charter School Grant Program (CSGP), that include significant changes to what was originally proposed by the USED.

TransACT is adding three notifications to the ESSA ParentNotices Collection to help districts document the requirements found in ESSA, Section 8538, “Consultation with Indian Tribes and Tribal Organizations.”

Background

In March of 2021, the U.S Congress passed the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act, providing an additional $122 billion in Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding. This funding, coupled with the CARES Act (passed March 2020) and CRRSA Act (passed December 2020) ESSER funds brings the total ESSER funding to about $190 billion to help education agencies at the state and local level address the educational impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.  

ESSER Funding Explained

ESSER (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief) funding is the portion of funding in the three COVID-19 relief laws designated to help address educational issues arising from the pandemic. There are three Coronavirus relief bills passed by the U.S. Congress that provided significant funding for K-12 education.

States, school districts, and schools have significant flexibility in spending federal COVID relief funds announced last spring.   

Pandemic-related learning gaps are still causing issues in K12 education as students try to make up for lost time due to the pandemic and school closures. These gaps are even more significant for Multilingual Learner students.   

Congress has passed three bills that provide $190 billion for K-12 education called Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding, explicitly meant to help education recover from the pandemic.   

In an on-demand webinar, TransACT Parent Notice’s Executive Director for Federal Programs and State Relationships, Dr. David Holbrook, outlines ways school districts can access these federal grants to support dual-language programs.   

A lot of competition exists for the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds. There are many questions on how best to use these funds to support students and educators. One area where the use of these funds is especially urgent is student mental health. 

By David Holbrook, Keja Whiteman, with contributions from Jenn Runs Close To Lodge 

As part of our commitment to provide school district administrators with resources and guidance on federal program compliance and administration, we regularly publish blogs featuring guest writers. We are honored to feature a co-written article between TransACT Executive Director of Federal Programs and State Relationships, Dr. Holbrook, and his colleague Keja Nokomis Whiteman of KW Consultants LLC, with contributions from middle school educator Jenn Runs Close To Lodge. 

The Tennessee Rules of the State Board of Education, Chapter 0520-01-19 English as a Second Language Programs outlines significant state-level requirements related to English Learner students (ELs).