Wisconsin — State Plan for the American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund
Summary
The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction names instructional planning for the 2021-2022 school year and digital learning and equitable access as the top two issues in this ARP ESSER State Plan, whose cover lists award number S425U210044 and Jill Underly as authorized representative, dated 8/27/21. For strategies the plan analyzes 110 district waiver applications from 2020-21 and a survey and interviews from July of 2021, pointing to changes in schedules, curriculum and instructional practices. The text ends with the paperwork notice for GEPA requirements.
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Cite this document
“Wisconsin — State Plan for the American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund.”
Original at www.ed.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/department-of-education-pdf-www-ed-gov-1730bfdd1b/
, SHA-256 cbbe7a04715b5ffe8cb2ebf9d56523e4894f84e1949ac8e4d0f761b8f9a3aba8.Full text
State Plan for the
American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund
U.S. Department of Education
Issued: April 21, 2021
OMB Number: 1810-0754
Expiration Date: October 31, 2021
Paperwork Burden Statement According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to
respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB
control number for this information collection is 1810-0754. Public reporting burden for this collection of
information is estimated to average 100 hours per response, including time for reviewing instructions, searching
existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of
information. The obligation to respond to this collection is required to obtain or retain benefit under Section 2001 of
the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP Act). If you have any comments concerning the accuracy of the time
estimate, suggestions for improving this individual collection, or if you have comments or concerns regarding the
status of your individual form, application or survey, please contact Britt Jung, Office of State and Grantee
Relations, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue,
SW, Washington, DC 20202-6450, email: SGR@ed.gov directly.
Introduction
The American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (“ARP
ESSER”) Fund, authorized under the American Rescue Plan (“ARP”) Act of 2021, provides
nearly $122 billion to States to support the Nation’s schools in safely reopening and sustaining
safe operations of schools while meeting the academic, social, emotional, and mental health
needs of students resulting from the coronavirus disease 2019 (“COVID-19”) pandemic. It is
particularly important that ARP ESSER funding will enable States and local educational
agencies (“LEAs”), and more directly schools, to support students who have been most severely
impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and are likely to have suffered the most because of
longstanding inequities in our communities and schools that have been exacerbated by the
COVID-19 pandemic.
The U.S. Department of Education (“Department”) is committed to working in partnership with
States so that these unprecedented resources are quickly put to work to ensure students have
sustained access to in-person instruction and that the resources are used to provide the effective
support students need as they persist through and recover from the impacts of the COVID-19
pandemic. The thoughtful and timely use of these funds will have a lasting impact on our
Nation’s schools and help to address the inequities in resources, services, and opportunities
available to our students.
This template presents an opportunity for States to share their plans for the use of ARP ESSER
funds with the public. The Department must approve a State educational agency’s (“SEA’s”)
plan in order to make the State’s remaining ARP ESSER allocation available for use. Please note
that the Department intends to issue ARP ESSER reporting requirements separately.
Instructions
Each SEA must provide descriptions and other information that address each requirement listed
below. An SEA may use this template or another format as long as every item and element is
addressed in the SEA’s response. Throughout this document, questions that refer to an SEA’s
ARP ESSER funding are referencing the total allocation to be received by the SEA, including
that which it allocates to its LEAs.
Each SEA must submit to the Department by June 7, 2021, either: (1) its ARP ESSER plan or
(2) the State requirements that preclude submission of the plan by that date and a date by which
it will be able to submit its complete ARP ESSER plan.
To submit the SEA’s plan, please email the plan to your Program Officer at
[State].OESE@ed.gov (e.g., Alabama.OESE@ed.gov).
In order to ensure transparency, the Department will post each plan on the Department’s website
when it is received and will indicate each plan’s approval status.
This template also allows States to fulfill the requirement of the Coronavirus Response and
Relief Supplemental Appropriations (“CRRSA”) Act ESSER II 6-month reporting requirement
in section 313(f) of the CRRSA Act.
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Cover Page
Grantee and Contact Information
ARP ESSER PR Award Number (e.g., S425U2100XX): S425U210044
SEA Contact: Keona Jones
Telephone: (608)266-5450
Email address: keona.jones@dpi.wi.gov
By signing this document, I agree to each of the assurances listed in Appendix C and
further assure that:
To the best of my knowledge and belief, all information and data included in this plan
are true and correct.
Chief State School Officer or Authorized Representative (Printed
Name)
Jill Underly
Signature of Authorized SEA Representative Date:
8/27/21
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A. Describing the State’s Current Status and Needs
The Department recognizes the extraordinary efforts made by States, LEAs, and educators to
support students during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this section, SEAs will describe the
progress they have made, the priorities and student needs guiding their ARP ESSER funding
decisions, and their current and projected operating status.
1. Progress and Promising Practices: Provide your assessment of the top 2-3
strategies that have been most effective in supporting the needs of students in
your State during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially for students most impacted
by the COVID-19 pandemic. Please include, if applicable, how your State will
submit and encourage its LEAs to submit lessons learned and best practices to the
Department’s Safer Schools and Campuses Best Practices Clearinghouse so that
they can be shared with other States and LEAs.
During the 2020-21 school year, Wisconsin districts applied to the Wisconsin
Department of Public Instruction for waivers from various state requirements to navigate
the pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic. The language from 110 waiver applications
was analyzed to identify effective strategies to support the needs of Wisconsin students
during the COVID-19 pandemic. To better reflect on the experiences of districts, a survey
and interviews were conducted during July of 2021. Districts surveyed and interviewed
were from cities, suburbs, towns, and rural communities. There was widespread concern
about student engagement. Districts used asynchronous learning time to recalibrate their
systems. Below identifies promising practices in three areas: modifying schedules,
modifying curriculum, and modifying instructional practices.
● Modify schedules to do the following:
○ include asynchronous learning as instructional time;
○ include competency based learning;
○ and include time for collaboration within and across grade-level and content
teams to plan coherent, relevant instruction.
● Modify curriculum to do the following:
○ adapt curriculum to scaffold prerequisite skills in new instruction;
○ add project-based learning;
○ and honor student diversity to ensure each student is successful.
● Modify instructional practices to do the following:
○ move to competency-based grading and reporting systems;
○ create digital repositories to share curricular resources;
○ and transition to using outdoor learning spaces.
2. Overall Priorities: Provide your assessment of the top 2-3 issues currently facing
students and schools across your State as a result of or in response to the COVID-
19 pandemic including, to the extent possible, data illustrating why these are the
most critical and/or most widespread issues facing schools and students.
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The WDPI’s assessment of the top two issues currently facing students and
schools across the state as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic are instructional planning
for the 2021-2022 school year and digital learning and equitable access.
As we quickly approach the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year, there is still
much uncertainty, making instructional planning a critical concern for schools and
educators. Wisconsin students participate in the statewide summative assessments during
March, April, and May. Scoring occurs in June, and data flows from assessment vendors
into the agency’s data warehouse throughout July and early August. The data warehouse
team loads the data and performs quality assurance from late July through August. As of
now, the final data is not available, and we anticipate it becoming available in the public
portals in late September or October. We are also awaiting final certification of
attendance and chronic absenteeism data. This makes engaging in data inquiry processes
and accurate identification of and subsequent planning for student academic needs
difficult. As shown in the surveys and interviews conducted as a follow-up to the analysis
of waivers LEAs submitted to the WDPI during school year 2020-2021, there is currently
widespread concern about engaging or re-engaging students in school, which is a key
component of instructional planning.
At the same time, Wisconsin has seen an increase in COVID-19 positive test
results due to variants, making digital learning and equitable access of concern as schools
once again face the prospect of delivering remote or hybrid instruction. In school year
2020-2021, the WDPI collected data on student internet access, device access, and
internet performance for the first time. While this data showed that 96.8% of respondents
have confirmed internet access, only 40% of enrolled Wisconsin students responded to
the survey. Additionally, only 34.5% of respondents confirmed they have access to a
personal device. This lack of confirmed internet and device access has serious
implications for those LEAs in communities that are seeing large increases in COVID-19
positive test results and are therefore facing the potential for delivering remote or hybrid
instruction early in the school year, which could further disengage those students who
have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
3. Identifying Needs of Underserved Students: Describe your State’s 2-3 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:
i. Students from low-income families,
ii. Students from each racial or ethnic group (e.g., identifying
disparities and focusing on underserved student groups by race or
ethnicity),
iii. Gender (e.g., identifying disparities and focusing on underserved
student groups by gender),
iv. English learners,
v. Children with disabilities (including infants, toddlers, children, and
youth with disabilities eligible under the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (“IDEA”)),
vi. Students experiencing homelessness,
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vii. Children and youth in foster care,
viii. Migratory students, and
ix. Other groups disproportionately impacted by the pandemic that have
been identified by the SEA (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, and LGBTQ+
students).
To the extent possible, this description should include data on indicators such as
estimates of the academic impact of lost instructional time,1 chronic
absenteeism, student engagement, and social-emotional well-being.
Complete the table below, adding rows as necessary, or provide a narrative
description.
Table A1.
Student group Highest priority needs
Students from low-income families Statewide student data from the 2020-
2021 school year show that 362,345
students representing 43.7% of
Wisconsin students, are economically
disadvantaged. This number represents a
3% increase from school year 2018-
2019.
Due to the link between academic
achievement and economic status,
supporting the academic needs of
Wisconsin students experiencing poverty
is a high priority.
Students from each racial or ethnic The following shows Wisconsin Third
background used by the State for Friday September 2020-21 enrollment
reporting purposes – please add a row for data by student demographic data based
each racial or ethnic group (e.g., on total Wisconsin student TFS
identifying disparities and focusing on enrollment:
underserved student groups by
race/ethnicity) Amer. Indian 8,914 1.10%
Asian 34,497 4.20%
Black 73,483 8.90%
Hispanic 106,239 12.80%
Pacific Isle 633 0.10%
White 567,164 68.30%
Two or more 38,161 4.60%
Unknown 844 0.10%
1
For the purposes of the plan, “academic impact of lost instructional time” refers to “learning loss” experienced by
students as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, as referenced in the ARP Act and the CRRSA Act.
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Students by gender – please add a row The following shows Wisconsin Third
for each gender (e.g., identifying Friday September 2020-21 enrollment
disparities and focusing on underserved data by gender based on total Wisconsin
student groups by gender) student TFS enrollment:
Female 402,533 48.5%
Male 427,402 51.5%
English learners The following shows Wisconsin Third
Friday September 2020-21 enrollment
data by English language learner status
based on total Wisconsin student TFS
enrollment:
Eng Prof 786,044 94.7%
EL 43,796 5.3%
Unknown 95
Children with disabilities The following shows Wisconsin Third
Friday September 2020-21 enrollment
data by learner ability status based on
total Wisconsin student TFS enrollment:
SwD 117,969 14.2%
SwoD 711,962 85.8%
Unknown 4
Students experiencing homelessness At this time, Wisconsin does not have
2020-21 enrollment data for students
experiencing homelessness because this
data has not yet been certified
However, nationwide we have seen an
increase of students experiencing
homelessness due to the effects of the
pandemic. The last certified data shows
that 2.0% of our student population
experienced homelessness.
Children and youth in foster care Wisconsin out of home care data is not
approved to be published for these
purposes. It is only approved for specific
uses.
Migratory students The following shows Wisconsin Third
Friday September 2020-21 enrollment
data by migrant status based on total
Wisconsin student TFS enrollment:
Migrant 198 0.0%
Not migrant 829,737 100.0%
Other groups of students identified by There are several sets of data from 2020-
the State (e.g., youth involved in the 21 that the SEA has not yet certified that
criminal justice system, students who we believe will help us further identify
have missed the most in-person students who were underserved in 2020-
instruction during the 2019-2020 and 2021. Those data include: state
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2020-2021 school years, students who summative assessment data and student
did not consistently participate in remote attendance and chronic absenteeism data.
instruction when offered during school
building closures, LGBTQ+ students)
4. Understanding the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Describe how the SEA
will support its LEAs in identifying the extent of the impact of the COVID-19
pandemic on student learning and student well-being, including identifying the
groups of students most impacted by the pandemic. Where possible, please
identify the data sources the SEA will suggest its LEAs use in thoughtfully
diagnosing areas of need, including data on the academic, social, emotional, and
mental health impacts of lost instructional time.
The SEA supports LEAs in identifying their greatest needs, groups most at risk, and to
guide instructional and social and emotional learning with technical assistance and resources.
The SEA’s greatest resource to accomplish this is the Wisconsin Information System for
Education (WISE), which consists of multiple tools that support person ID generation and data
collection to meet all required district and school state and federal reporting mandates. WISEdata
is one of the tools in the WISE suite. It is a multi-vendor, open data collection system that allows
school districts, charter schools, and private schools participating in a parental Choice program
to submit high quality data to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (WDPI) from the
student information system (SIS) vendor of the educational agency’s choice. State and federally
required data is automatically pushed from student information systems to the SEA. Agencies
across the state also have the ability to opt in to send other data elements to WISEdata in order to
automate data transfer to other educational tools and software that they use to provide instruction
to their students. Examples include academic and career planning tools, retrieving immunization
status from the state health department, and integrating class roster information into third party
tools. WISEdash provides multi-year education data about Wisconsin schools in a visually
appealing reporting tool. The WISEdash Public Portal is used by districts, schools, parents,
researchers, media, and other community members to view data published by DPI. WISEdash for
Districts is a secure reporting tool that is used by districts and schools to view their own data
submitted via WISEdata for data quality, continuous improvement planning and early warning
systems. The data and dashboards provided through WISEdash helps all stakeholders better
understand education outcomes for Wisconsin students, inform decisions that can help ensure
every child has access to the programs and supports they need, and meet federal, state and local
reporting requirements. The data available in WISEdash includes data submitted from school
districts via WISEdata on student demographics, programs and outcomes as well as additional
data sources from assessment vendors (local by district opt in and statewide), student growth,
FAFSA completion, and postsecondary. WISEdash also reports on many opportunities to learn
measures, including several different early warning systems, exclusionary discipline, roster
course data, and new this year, data on digital equity.
WDPI is currently processing the 2020-21 statewide assessments that were administered
so school districts can use this information to address the impact of lost instructional time during
the pandemic. This information will first be loaded to WISEdash for Districts where LEAs can
securely access the data for their students and plan for the 2021-22 school year with the data.
Later in the fall, WDPI will publish the data to its WISEdash Public Portal dashboard where any
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stakeholder can further review the data to analyze lost instructional time impacts. In addition,
WDPI recently created dedicated visuals to show assessment participation so that the 2020-21
assessment results can be analyzed in context.
WISExplore is a data inquiry process developed and supported by regional service
providers in collaboration with SEA staff to support LEAs in effectively analyzing their data and
using it to engage in district and school improvement efforts. WISExplore consists of common
data inquiry process that teachers and school leaders statewide can use to guide their
improvement planning efforts. The Data Inquiry Journal is embedded within WISEdash for
Districts. This is the template that WISExplore has developed to be used by districts for school
improvement planning and each regional service provider has staff that assist LEAs in using the
tool and process. The data inquiry journal allows educators to document ongoing data
investigation and design continuous improvement plans all in one convenient location. This
interactive tool, designed by Wisconsin educators, imports local data for analysis within a secure
platform to protect student privacy. It includes all the essential components for continuous
improvement, meeting requirements for continuous improvement planning in ESEA and IDEA
by supporting LEA teams as they engage in critical conversations about local data to address
gaps and promote equitable outcomes for each learner. This tool contains three parts: a student
data inquiry component, a practice inquiry component, and a summary and improvement plan.
Together, these three parts lead educator teams through a research-based process of data inquiry
and improvement planning. The data inquiry journal automatically uploads and integrates data
pictures to document progress over time and includes options to export data for further internal
use and required state reporting. In addition, to support LEAs in meeting the needs of students
with IEPs, WDPI also has resources on progress monitoring of IEP goals.
The connection between students’ social and emotional well-being and academic
achievement is well established (Durlak et al., 2011. Aspen Institute, 2018). The WDPI
recognizes the need to support educators in establishing safe and supportive learning
environments, providing universal social and emotional supports, and identifying students at risk
for more significant mental health challenges in addition to identifying students’ academic needs.
The DPI will encourage LEAs to analyze multiple sources of data to identify the impact of the
COVID-19 pandemic on student learning and student well-being, including identifying the
groups of students most impacted by the pandemic, by providing guidance and consultation to
schools and districts to identify reliable and culturally focused measures of student well-being
and academic achievement.
The agency will also provide access to the Youth Risk Behavior Survey which will
provide youth perspective and allow for the data to be disaggregated across groups in order to
identify student groups most at risk for social and emotional challenges and learning loss.
Additional local data sources the SEA will encourage LEAs to utilize include county YRBS data,
County Health Rankings and Social Determinants of Health, local parent and student surveys,
youth and family focus groups, academic assessment data, and data provided by community
partners (e.g., out-of-school time providers).
Recognizing the role that race and disability status plays in predicting student
achievement outcomes, the WDPI also offers LEAs the Culturally Responsive Problem Solving
module and guide.
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5. School Operating Status: It is essential to have data on how students are learning
in order to support the goals of access and equity, especially for student groups
that have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Describe
the current status of data collection on operational status and mode of instruction
of all schools in your State. This description must include:
i. A description of to what extent, and how frequently, the State
collects now and will collect in the future data for all schools in your
State on:
a. Mode of instruction: The number of schools in your State that are
offering fully remote or online-only instruction; both
remote/online and in-person instruction (hybrid model); and/or
full-time in-person instruction;
b. Enrollment: Student enrollment for all students and
disaggregated for each of the student groups described in A.3.i-
viii for each mode of instruction; and
c. Attendance: Student attendance for all students and
disaggregated for each of the student groups described in A.3.i-
viii for each mode of instruction.
The WDPI has not been required to collect student level data for all public schools on
mode of instruction before now (limited, specific data was collected for P-EBT and legislative
reporting purposes). The WDPI understands the importance of having instructional mode
(learning modality) data for Wisconsin’s students and schools moving forward. We are currently
planning to implement this new data collection through WISEdata via the Ed-Fi API in a future
school year, by the 2023-24 school years. Implementing the new data collection with fidelity,
including clear definitions and use cases, will take time to propose and come to consensus within
the Wisconsin education community.
When we integrate the collection into WISEdata, it will be implemented alongside the
student group data that is already collected today. In addition, the WISEdash data dashboard has
functionality where districts can identify groups of students based on criteria the district
determines so that they can then review data just for those students as they move through the
dashboards. Examples of data topics available include Enrollment, Attendance, and Assessment
data amongst many others. When instructional mode data is added to the dashboards, the data
will be available to review for those students and schools as well. This existing functionality will
be able to be utilized so that LEAs can review the students who were disproportionately
impacted by the pandemic.
In terms of the technical solution, Ed-Fi is proposing three different methods of
collection:
1. Program-Calendar method which collects specific scheduled cohorts and their
learning modality and length of time in that modality per day (useful if districts
have to split their school into half of the students being on campus part of the
week and the other half being on campus another part of the week). This is the
most granular method of collection.
2. Program-Aggregate method is similar to Program-Calendar except that the detail
regarding which day a hybrid cohort is remote or campus is lost. Instead, a
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percentage of time or time per week is collected to represent how much time the
cohort was in the specific mode of learning.
3. Attendance Method is the third proposed option. It requires the collection of
positive attendance, which many Wisconsin LEAs do not currently collect. In
addition, it requires the collection of daily attendance. Many LEAs collect daily
attendance, but daily attendance is not currently submitted to WDPI today. WDPI
may begin doing so in relation to modernizing the collection of finance related
student data.
Each of these methods of collection will need to be evaluated in terms of how they fit into the
needs of the WDPI uses of the data, how seamless it is for LEAs to collect and enter the data,
and how much effort is required for student information system (SIS) vendors to both make
changes to collect the data and to make changes to submit the data to WISEdata via the Ed-Fi
API.
Once the data is collected, the WDPI will also sync it nightly with WISEdash and present
the data back to districts in a secure manner in WISEdash for districts. As required by ARP, we
will also publicly report the information in the WISEdash Public Portal.
ii. The data described in A.5.i.a. and b. using the template in Appendix
A (and to the extent available, the data described in A.5.i.c.) for the
most recent time period available. Please note that this data can be
submitted separately within 14 calendar days after a State submits
this plan. The SEA must also make this data publicly available on its
website as soon as possible but no later than June 21, 2021, and
regularly provide updated available information on its website. The
Department will periodically review data listed in A.5.i on SEA
websites.
The WDPI has not been required to collect data on mode of instruction before now and
does not yet have this data available. When this data has been certified, the WDPI will make it
publicly available on its website.
Moving forward, Ed-Fi is proposing three different methods of collection:
1. Program-Calendar method which collects specific scheduled cohorts and their learning
modality and length of time in that modality per day (useful if districts have to split their
school into half of the students being on campus part of the week and the other half being
on campus another part of the week). This is the most granular method of collection.
2. Program-Aggregate method is similar to Program-Calendar except that the detail
regarding which day a hybrid cohort is remote, or campus is lost. Instead, a percentage of
time or time per week is collected to represent how much time the cohort was in the
specific mode of learning.
3. Attendance Method is the third proposed option. It requires the collection of positive
attendance, which many Wisconsin LEAs do not currently collect. In addition, it requires
the collection of daily attendance. Many LEAs collect daily attendance, but daily
attendance is not currently submitted to WDPI today. WDPI may begin doing so in
relation to modernizing the collection of finance related student data.
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Each of these methods of collection will need to be evaluated in terms of how they fit
into the needs of the WDPI uses of the data, how seamless it is for LEAs to collect and enter the
data, and how much effort is required for student information system (SIS) vendors to both make
changes to collect the data and to make changes to submit the data to WISEdata via the Ed-Fi
API.
Once the data is collected, the WDPI will also sync it nightly with WISEdash and present
the data back to districts in a secure manner in WISEdash for districts. As required by ARP, we
will also publicly report the information in the WISEdash Public Portal.
iii. To the extent available, a description of the planned operational
status and mode of instruction for the State and its LEAs for Summer
2021 and for the 2021-2022 school year.
The decision about planned operations status and mode of instruction is made at the local
level by each LEA.
B. Safely Reopening Schools and Sustaining their Safe Operations
The Department recognizes that safely reopening schools and sustaining their safe operations
to maximize in-person instruction is essential for student learning and student well-being,
and especially for being able to address the educational inequities that have been worsened
by the COVID-19 pandemic. In this section, SEAs will describe how they will support their
LEAs in this vital area.
1. Support for LEAs: Describe how the SEA will support its LEAs in safely
returning to in-person instruction and sustaining the safe operation of schools.
This description must include:
i. How the SEA will support its LEAs implementing, to the greatest
extent practicable, prevention and mitigation policies in line with the
most up-to-date guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (“CDC”) for the reopening and operation of school
facilities to effectively maintain the health and safety of students,
educators, and other staff;
Supporting LEAs in safely returning to in-person instruction and sustaining the safe
operation of schools is of critical importance to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction,
especially as new coronavirus variants develop. As a local control state, each LEA has the
authority to make its own decision about whether and how to return to in-person instruction. To
support LEAs in their decision-making and planning for safe operations of schools, the WDPI
created 12 guidance documents that are shared with LEAs as a technical assistance resource. The
WDPI State School Nurse Consultant has collaborated with the Wisconsin Department of Health
Services (DHS) in developing these materials that align with the most up-to-date guidance from
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Documents are revised as new
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recommendations are made. Documents and tools provide LEAs with templates and
recommendations for their district plans. Documents include a school health services toolkit and
the recently updated “COVID-19 Infection Control and Mitigation Measures” document with
information on:
● Universal and correct wearing of masks
● Physical distancing
● Cleaning and maintaining healthy facilities, including improving
ventilation
● Handwashing and respiratory etiquette
● Transportation
● Food service
The WDPI has consulted with the DHS on development of guidance by DHS for local
and tribal health departments and schools on contact tracing and the isolation and quarantining of
staff and students. This guidance has been updated to incorporate the vaccination of staff and
students. The WDPI is collaborating with DHS on a statewide COVID testing program. Some
statewide testing is currently being offered with a full program to begin September 1, 2021.
The WDPI supports schools hosting school-located vaccination clinics for staff, students
and the community. Guidance documents along with references to CDC guidance are provided to
LEAs. Efforts to promote vaccination among students and staff will continue as younger children
become eligible for vaccination fall and winter of 2021.
The state school nurse consultant communicates with school nurses, school health
services personnel, and school administrators on a regular basis via an email list-serve. The
WDPI has a designated webpage for COVID-19 School Health Services information
(https://dpi.wi.gov/sspw/2019-novel-coronavirus/school-health-services-information). On this
webpage is a section providing information specifically related to students with disabilities or
chronic medical conditions. The state school nurse consultant hosts virtual meetings with school
nurses and attends LEA administrator conferences and meetings to provide up-to-date
recommendations. Additionally, the state school nurse consultant is available by phone or email
to discuss particular situations with LEAs, school nurses, and parents.
ii. Any Statewide plans, policies, estimated timelines, and specific
milestones related to reopening and operation of school facilities,
including any mechanisms the SEA will use to track, monitor, or
enforce their implementation;
As a local control state, each LEA has the authority to make its own decision about
whether and how to return to in-person instruction. A majority of Wisconsin public school
districts provided in-person instruction during all or part of the 2020-2021 school year. Nearly all
public-school districts ended the 2020-2021 school year providing in-person instruction as an
option. Most public-school districts will start instruction for the 2021-2022 school year on or
after September 1, 2021. Therefore, most Wisconsin school districts require guidance for the
continuation of operations for the start of the fall and not for a reopening of school facilities and
operations.
The extent to which Wisconsin school districts and individual schools choose to
implement the infection control and mitigation measures recommended by the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS),
13
and the best practice recommendations of the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI)
is a local decision. Therefore the DPI cannot enforce the implementation of best practices and
recommendations. The DPI will not track or monitor what measures are, or are not, being
implemented in schools, but will instead monitor LEAs for compliance in posting their Safe
Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services plan.
iii. To what extent the SEA and its LEAs consult with Federal, State,
and local health officials. This description should include, if
available, whether the SEA and its LEAs have received support for
screening testing from their State or local health department based
on funding awarded by the CDC; and
The WDPI works closely with the state health agency. The recommendations
communicated with LEAs are based upon DHS and CDC guidance. LEAs are instructed to work
with the local and tribal health departments to best implement the guidance. It is also
recommended that LEAs work with their insurance carriers and legal counsel in determining to
what degree the LEA implements mitigation measures.
The state health agency is providing support for both diagnostic and screening testing to
schools with funds awarded by the CDC. The DPI has been advising the DHS on this project and
providing connections and communications to LEAs. The testing programs were greatly
expanded for the fall 2021-2022 school year.
iv. Any guidance, professional learning, and technical assistance
opportunities the SEA will make available to its LEAs.
The SEA offers various technical assistance resources for safely reopening schools. The
WDPI has a designated webpage for COVID-19 School Health Services information
(https://dpi.wi.gov/sspw/2019-novel-coronavirus/school-health-services-information) and the
recently updated “COVID-19 Infection Control and Mitigation Measures” document with
information on:
● Universal and correct wearing of masks
● Physical distancing
● Cleaning and maintaining healthy facilities, including improving
ventilation
● Handwashing and respiratory etiquette
● Transportation
● Foodservice
Also on this webpage is a section providing information specifically related to students with
disabilities or chronic medical conditions.
The state school nurse consultant communicates with school nurses, school health
services personnel, and school administrators on a regular basis via an email list-serve. The state
school nurse consultant also hosts virtual meetings with school nurses and attends LEA
administrator conferences and meetings to provide up-to-date recommendations. Additionally,
the state school nurse consultant is available by phone or email to discuss particular situations
14
with LEAs, school nurses, and parents. The WDPI will continue to develop and revise the
guidance documents as necessary and as they remain relevant. The WDPI COVID-19 School
Health Services webpage was streamlined. The WDPI will provide a New School Nurse
Orientation virtually on October 21-22, 2021, including COVID topics. The state school nurse
consultant will send bi-weekly newsletters and emails as needed. The state school nurse
consultant is scheduled to present at various school administration conferences and meetings
along with school nurse network virtual meetings. The SEA will support the continuation of
statewide webinars held in conjunction with the state Department of Health Services.
2. Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services Plans: Describe
how the SEA will ensure that its LEAs that receive ARP ESSER funds meet the
requirements in section 2001(i) of the ARP Act and the requirements relating to
the ARP ESSER funds published in the Federal Register and available at
https://oese.ed.gov/offices/american-rescue-plan/american-rescue-plan-
elementary-and-secondary-school-emergency-relief/ (ARP ESSER requirements)
to either: (a) within 30 days of receipt of the funds, develop and make publicly
available on the LEA’s website a plan for the safe return to in-person instruction
and continuity of services, or (b) have developed and made publicly available on
the LEA’s website such a plan that meets statutory requirements before the
enactment of the ARP Act, including:
i. How the SEA will ensure that each LEA plan includes, or will be
modified to include, the extent to which it has adopted policies and a
description of any such policies on each of the strategies listed in
table B1;
ii. How the SEA will ensure that each LEA plan describes how it will
ensure continuity of services including but not limited to services to
address the students’ academic needs, and students’ and staff social,
emotional, mental health, and other needs, which may include
student health and food services;
iii. How the SEA will ensure that the LEA periodically reviews, no less
frequently than every six months for the duration of the ARP ESSER
grant period (i.e., through September 30, 2023),2 and revises as
appropriate, its plan, and how the SEA will ensure that the LEA
seeks public input, and takes such input into account on (1) whether
revisions are necessary and, if so, (2) the revisions to the plan; and
iv. Describe, to the extent the SEA collects it, information about LEA
implementation, to the greatest extent practicable, of each element of
the most up-to-date CDC guidance listed in table B1 and its LEAs’
needs for support and technical assistance to implement strategies
consistent, to the greatest extent practicable, with relevant CDC
guidance.
2
ARP ESSER funds are subject to the Tydings amendment in section 421(b) of the General Education Provisions
Act, 20 U.S.C. 1225(b), and are therefore available to SEAs and LEAs for obligation through September 30, 2024.
Review and revisions of these plans, if necessary, are not required during the Tydings period.
15
The WDPI will use its in-house federal grants management system, WISEgrants, to
monitor and ensure each LEA’s compliance with 2001(i) of the ARP Act.
As part of the ARP ESSER application process in WISEgrants, LEAs will be required to
complete the following in order to submit the ARP ESSER application. An LEA must:
● Include their website’s url where they post their Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and
Continuity of Services Plan;
● Describe their LEA’s level of stakeholder engagement for their Safe Return to In-Person
Instruction and Continuity of Services Plan and their ARP ESSER Plan for funding;
● Describe how well their safety policies align with the CDC, state, and/or local health
department guidelines for each safety requirement listed the interim final rule;
● Describe their continuity of services including but not limited to services to address
students; academic needs and students’ and staff social, emotional, mental health, and
other needs, which may include student health and food services; and
● Identify the date the plan was put into place.
The WDPI will use some of its ARP-ESSER administrative funds to hire staff to review
the extent to which each LEA’s safety policies align with CDC, state, and/or local health
department guidelines and will provide support and technical assistance as appropriate.
Additionally, WDPI will program its federal grant management system to require LEAs to
review and, as necessary, update their plan every six months. If an LEA does not review their
plan, WDPI will temporarily withhold the payment of claims until the plan is reviewed (as
allowed under 2 CFR 200.339(a)).
C. Planning for the Use and Coordination of ARP ESSER Funds
The Department recognizes that seeking input from diverse stakeholders is essential to
developing plans for the use of ARP ESSER funds that are responsive to the needs of
students, families, and educators. In this section, SEAs will describe their plans for
consultation and for coordinating the use of ARP ESSER funds with other resources to meet
the needs of students.
1. SEA Consultation: Consistent with the ARP ESSER requirements, describe how
the SEA engaged in meaningful consultation with stakeholders, and incorporated
input into its plan, including, but not limited to:
i. students;
ii. families;
iii. Tribes (if applicable);
iv. civil rights organizations (including disability rights organizations);
16
v. school and district administrators (including special education
administrators);
vi. superintendents;
vii. charter school leaders (if applicable);
viii. teachers, principals, school leaders, other educators, school staff, and
their unions; and
ix. stakeholders representing the interests of children with disabilities,
English learners, children experiencing homelessness, children and
youth in foster care, migratory students, children who are
incarcerated, and other underserved students.
The description must include how the SEA provided the public the opportunity to
provide input in the development of the plan, a summary of the input (including
any letters of support), and how the SEA took such input into account.
To engage in meaningful consultation with stakeholders, WDPI first identified
stakeholders and representatives of stakeholder groups with special emphasis on those
stakeholders or stakeholder groups representing currently or historically marginalized
populations to seek their input. These stakeholder groups included: youth organizations,
Wisconsin’s five largest urban school districts, districts with the highest percentage of English
language learners, districts with the highest percentage of students experiencing homelessness,
districts with the highest percentage of migrant students, districts with the highest percentage of
students living in poverty, districts with the highest percentage of children who are incarcerated,
the professional organization representing Wisconsin’s small, rural districts, civil rights
organizations, including those focused on specific community populations like The Milwaukee
Urban League, VOCES, The Hmong Institute, GSAFE, and 100 Black Men of Madison,
disability rights organizations, representatives from each of the American Indian tribes in
Wisconsin, the Wisconsin PTA affiliate and other local parent groups, unions, charter schools
and higher education groups and institutions.
The SEA scheduled ten virtual stakeholder meetings at various times of day over the
course of two weeks and facilitated dialogue about ESSER III funds, seeking input on both uses
of the SEA set aside (to the extent allowable given the prescribed uses of the SEA set aside as
outlined in Wisconsin Motion 57) and how the SEA could better support LEAs in their planning
and use of ESSER III funds. For those stakeholders unable to attend or participate in the live
sessions, the SEA created and distributed a survey seeking input and posted a pre-recorded
webinar on the SEA site along with the survey seeking input.
Following state law, the WDPI submitted a draft plan for use of the ESSER III SEA set-
aside to Wisconsin’s Joint Committee on Finance. That legislative committee revised the plan
and prescribed use of the SEA set-aside in the following ways: $15.4 million for competitive
grants in two rounds with the first round being for LEAs eligible for sparsity aid to support
evidence-based after school programming; $15.4 million for competitive grants in two rounds
with the first round being for LEAs eligible for sparsity aid to support evidence-based summer
programming; $5 million for prescribed reading initiatives that require the SEA and regional
service providers to contract with specific vendors; allocating a total of $2.4 million to specific
state schools and one charter school; $1.2 million for administrative costs; and using remaining
funds to allocate additional ESSER III funds to those LEAs receiving less than $781 per pupil in
Title I part A funds proportionate to the percentage and number of in-person instructional hours
17
those LEAs provided in the 2020-2021 school year. Because these additional funds are coming
from the SEA set aside, LEAs will be required to use these funds to support EBIS. Therefore, the
SEA sought input from stakeholders regarding the evidence-based after school programming
grants and the evidence-based summer programming grants.
Strong themes emerged from both the live, facilitated sessions and in the written
feedback submitted. These themes centered on specific allowable activities for the two different
types of competitive grants the SEA must support with ESSER III set aside funds, and supports
that LEAs identified the SEA could provide for their own planning and use of local ESSER III
funds.
Wisconsin stakeholders voiced strong support for both the after-school programming and
summer programming SEA competitive grants to allow for transportation costs to encourage
student attendance and participation, teacher incentives for staffing these programs, and snacks
for students. Wisconsin youth specifically asked for programming that supported their academic
needs, their mental health needs, and programs that focused on meaningful summer internships
or work experiences where they could gain critical employment skills. Additional feedback
included the need for the SEA to provide models or examples of effective, evidence-based after
school and summer programs.
The WDPI consistently heard and received requests for specific LEA supports, such as
guidance for the creation of local plans for the safe return to in-person instruction and continuity
of services, and templates for conducting local stakeholder engagement. The SEA will
incorporate this stakeholder engagement into the design of the competitive grants for evidence-
based after school and summer programming. The WDPI has already begun to create resources
stakeholders requested to support their local efforts to create local plans, including a site with
updated information about CDC guidelines and recommendations for safe return to in-person
instruction and a template for conducting local stakeholder engagement. The WDPI has also
connected with regional service providers about these LEA needs and provided them with
resources to support their work with local LEAs in these same areas
2. Coordinating Funds: Describe to what extent the SEA has and will coordinate
Federal COVID-19 pandemic funding and other Federal funding. This description
must include:
i. How the SEA and its LEAs 1) are using or have used prior to the
submission of this plan and 2) plan to use following submission of
this plan, Federal COVID-19 funding under the Coronavirus Aid,
Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act and the CRRSA Act
to support a safe return to and safely maximize in-person instruction,
sustain these operations safely, and address the disproportionate
impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on individual student groups
(including students from low-income families, children with
disabilities, English learners, racial or ethnic minorities, students
experiencing homelessness, children and youth in foster care, and
migratory students);
The WDPI is committed to coordinating Federal COVID-19 pandemic funding and other
Federal funding in order to support LEAs in a safe return to and to safely maximize in-
person instruction while addressing the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on
18
currently and historically marginalized populations. In order to accomplish this, the SEA
formed a cross agency work group to plan for and coordinate Federal funding and create
recommendations and guidance for local LEA use of these funds. Table C1 below shows
the services that the SEA coordinated to support with Federal COVID-19 pandemic
funding. Tables C2 through C4 show the amount of Federal COVID-19 pandemic
funding that has been budgeted and claimed as of August 1, 2021.
In addition to the services the WDPI provided with Federal COVID-19 pandemic
funding, the SEA provides tools and resources to support LEAs in identifying the
populations most at risk in their local communities. Across the state and nationally,
preliminary data suggests that students who entered the pandemic with disproportionate
outcomes showed the greatest risk for learning loss and mental health challenges.
WDPI recognizes that an equitable multi-level system of support that provides
equitable services, practices, and resources to every learner based upon responsiveness to
effective instruction and intervention is best for all students. This includes providing
varying types of supports at differing levels of intensity to proactively and responsively
adjust to the needs of the whole child. A great deal of focus has been placed on providing
guidance and resources for schools to provide comprehensive universal supports in order
to create safe and supportive environments in which students feel connected to adults and
one another while being engaged with grade-level, standards-aligned instruction. This
will continue. Additionally, DPI has worked to provide technical assistance to schools to
identify tier 2 and tier 3 supports for their students most at risk.
Highlights of how the SEA has used Federal COVID-19 pandemic funding to
address the disproportionate impact of the pandemic include: Building capacity for, and
expanding access to high-quality, online instructional resources; providing training for
educators in the provision of online and remote instruction and work with educator
preparation programs to prepare educators for delivering instruction in online and remote
settings; and expanding and building capacity of school staff to provide mental health
services, to better support students.
Table C1.
Prior/Current and Planned SEA and LEA Uses of Federal COVID-19 Federal Funds
Funding source Prior/current SEA and LEA uses Planned SEA and LEA uses
(including funding amounts, if (including funding amounts,
applicable) if applicable)
ESSER I (CARES Act) ESSER I Set-Aside Projects: ESSER I Set-Aside Projects:
● Teleservice $47,130 ● Teleservice $52,870
● Universal Design for Learning ● Universal Design for
Forward! $106,476 Learning Forward!
● Institute for Personalized Learning $93,524
$374,273 ● Institute for Personalized
● Broadband Discount Program Learning $2,525,727
$22,050 ● Broadband Discount
● Assistive Technology Forward! Program $22,050
$115,253 ● Assistive Technology
● Digital Learning Bridge $882,415 Forward! $124,747
19
● Mental Health Training & Resources ● Digital Learning Bridge
$746,884 $1,117,585
● Reading Foundations Webinars ● Mental Health Training
$45,707 and Resources
● WI Digital Learning Collaborative $2,744,496
Scale-Up $3,478,057 ● Reading Foundations
● Mental Health Literacy Units $1,887 Webinars $52,293
● Personal Protective Equipment ● WI Digital Learning
Videos $20,000 Collaborative Scale-Up
$3,271,943
ESSER I Grants Claimed by LEAs: ● Mental Health Literacy
See table C2 below Units $38,113
ESSER I Grants Budgeted by
LEAs (included claimed
amounts):
See table C2 below
GEER I (CARES Act) All funding was provided in grants to LEAs All funding was provided in
grants to LEAs
GEER Grants Claimed by LEAs:
See table C3 below GEER Grants Budgeted by
LEAs (included claimed
amounts):
See table C3 below
ESSER II (CRRSA Act) All funding was provided in grants to LEAs All funding was provided in
grants to LEAs
ESSER II Grants Claimed by LEAs:
See table C3 below ESSER II Grants Budgeted by
LEAs (included claimed
amounts):
See table C3 below
GEER II (CRRSA Act) N/A The Governor issued these funds to N/A The Governor issued
IHEs only. these funds to IHEs only.
20
Table C2.
ESSER I Grants Claimed and Budgeted as of 8/1/21
Program Type Total Budgeted Total Public Total Public Total Private
(Approved Budgets Budgeted Amount Budgeted Amount
Only) Amount Claimed (Prior (for equitable
to 6.30.2021) participation for
private school
students)
Addressing Afterschool and $2,221,339.81 $285,193.13 $169,598.89 $1,936,146.68
Summer Learning
Addressing Long-term School $29,700,161.63 $27,887,041.13 $18,693,396.16 $1,813,120.50
Closure
Continued Staff Employment $1,245,684.74 $1,245,684.74 $1,199,496.96 $-
Educational Technology $62,795,829.29 $56,802,395.36 $49,433,267.38 $5,993,433.93
Mental Health Services and $2,244,810.79 $674,562.06 $555,301.19 $1,570,248.73
Supports
Indirect $5,223,871.79 $5,100,934.59 $3,159,472.28 $122,937.20
Outreach/Service Delivery to $4,638,333.17 $3,543,811.23 $300,903.44 $1,094,521.94
Special Populations
Preparedness and Response to $46,843,466.11 $40,303,675.04 $29,224,824.99 $6,539,791.07
COVID-19
Total ESSER I Amount Not $3,630,819.67
Budgeted as of 8.1.2021
21
Total ESSER I Private Amount Claimed for Equitable participation for private school students
(Prior to 6.30.2021) = $ 5,492,073.34 The Total Private Claimed Amounts are not available by
Program Type.)
Table C3.
GEER I Grants Claimed and Budgeted as of 8/1/21
Total amount awarded to LEAs = $46,550,410
Program Type Total Budgeted Total Public Total Public Total Private
(Approved Budgets Budgeted Amount Budgeted
Only) Amount Claimed (Prior Amount
to 6.30.2021) (for equitable
participation
for private
school
students)
Addressing Long-term School $9,002,199.54 $7,933,542.18 $4,448,923.52 $1,068,657.36
Closure
Educational Technology $12,708,190.94 $11,216,822.44 $7,338,098.42 $1,491,368.50
Mental Health Services and $60,716.59 $60,716.59 $8,222.14 $-
Supports
Indirect $1,003,903.36 $966,717.69 $29,148.63 $37,185.67
Outreach/Service Delivery to $214,942.42 $214,942.42 $46,830.83 $-
Special Populations
Preparedness and Response to $15,417,441.71 $14,132,454.56 $3,645,031.14 $1,284,987.15
COVID-19
Total GEER Amount Not Budgeted $8,143,015.44
as of 8.1.2021
22
Total GEER Private Amount Claimed for Equitable participation for private school students
(Prior to 6.30.2021) = $379,890.04. The Total Claimed Private Amounts are not available by
Program Type.
Table C4
ESSER II Grants Claimed and Budgeted as of 8/1/21
Program Type Total Budgeted Total Public Budgeted Total Public Amount
(Approved Budgets Only) Amount Claimed (Prior to
6.30.2021)
Addressing Afterschool $2,633,393.71 $2,633,393.71 $345,535.43
and Summer Learning
Addressing Long-term $27,593,944.27 $27,593,944.27 $8,500,297.56
School Closure
Educational Technology $14,277,554.51 $14,277,554.51 $4,652,625.70
Mental Health Services $1,019,948.12 $1,019,948.12 $125,231.42
and Supports
None $1,222,843.21 $1,222,843.21 $139,505.16
Outreach/Service $3,047,491.20 $3,047,491.20 $490,327.26
Delivery to Special
Populations
Preparedness and $25,585,322.32 $25,585,322.32 $6,663,595.89
Response to COVID-19
Total ESSER II Amount $542,910,948.66
Not Budgeted as of
8.1.2021
23
ii. To what extent ESSER I and ESSER II funds have been awarded to
LEAs and, if funds have not yet been made available to LEAs, when
they will be. In addition, please provide any available information on
the total dollar amounts of ESSER I and ESSER II funds that have
been obligated but not expended by the SEA and its LEAs, including
whether the SEA is able to track LEA obligations.
The WDPI has awarded all of the funds for ESSER I and ESSER II. Tables C2
through C4 above show the amount of Federal COVID-19 pandemic funding that has
been budgeted and claimed by LEAs as of August 1, 2021.The WDPI does not track LEA
obligations. Depending on the cost, funds are obligated at different points in time per 34
CFR 76.707, therefore reporting obligations can be misleading as it does not provide a
complete picture of how LEAs are planning to spend their funds. For example, on August
1, 2021, an LEA budgets $300,000 of ARP ESSER funds for a reading teacher’s salary
and fringe benefits to provide evidence-based reading interventions to struggling readers
throughout the LEA for the life of the grant (through September 30, 2024). The
obligation is not made until the teacher does the work. Therefore, the $300,000 would not
be fully obligated until 2024.
Furthermore, reporting obligations would substantially increase the administrative
burden on LEAs as well as the SEA. Wisconsin uses a GAAP modified accrual
accounting standard under which LEAs record expenditures, which do not have the same
definition as obligations. Recording and reporting obligations would require LEAs to
develop and maintain parallel accounting systems that reconcile the difference between
obligations and expenditures, and the WDPI to develop and maintain a parallel data
collection system for the sole purpose of reporting ESSER obligations. This would
require time, funding, and capacity for both LEAs and the SEA and be especially
burdensome with the 2021-22 fiscal year underway.
As an alternative, the WDPI can use the WISEgrants federal grants management
system to report on the amount of funds that are budgeted as demonstrated in tables C2
through C4 above.
iii. In supporting LEAs as they plan for the safe return to and continuity
of in-person instruction and for meeting the academic, social,
emotional, and mental health needs of students resulting from the
COVID-19 pandemic, the extent to which the SEA is also using
other Federal funding sources including but not limited to under the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (“ESEA”), IDEA,
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (“WIOA”), funding for
child nutrition services, and McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance
Act, and the funds to support the needs of students experiencing
homelessness provided by section 2001(b)(1) of the ARP Act.3
3
Please note that the needs of students experiencing homelessness must be addressed (along with the other groups
disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic) through the use of the ARP ESSER SEA reservations and
the required LEA reservation for the academic impact of lost instructional time; the funding provided to support the
needs of students experiencing homelessness by section 2001(b)(1) of the ARP Act is in addition to the supports and
services provided with ARP ESSER funds.
24
The WDPI has been and will continue to utilize additional Federal funding
sources to plan for the safe return to and continuity of in-person instruction and for
meeting the academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs of students resulting
from the COVID-19 pandemic with special attention to providing supports to those
students who have been and continue to be disproportionately impacted.
Beyond CARES Act funds, WDPI’s Student Services/Prevention and Wellness
Team has a variety of federal funding sources that support academic, social, emotional
and mental health needs of students resulting from the pandemic. Federal funding sources
support a significant amount of staffing on the Student Services Prevention and Wellness
team. Funded staff facilitate access to free training, community of practice, guidance
documents, and access to training and guidance on evidence based programs and
practices, including support for the Wisconsin Safe and Healthy Schools (WISH) Center,
School Climate Transformation Grants, the Federal School-Based Mental Health
Professionals Grant project, and the Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning
Center (21st CCLC) grant program that supports academically-focused out-of-school
time programs. Wisconsin also received funding through the state biennial budget process
to support the mental emotional health of students and staff.
The WDPI’s IDEA-funded Special Education Team has developed numerous
resources to support the needs of LEAs as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, including,
but not limited to:
■ Additional Services Bulletin 20.01: Question and Answer Document on
addressing the impact on FAPE due to the school closure order; including
information on identifying student needs, gathering information to measure
progress, and planning for re-entry.
■ COVID-19 Special Education Question and Answer Document: Section B
provides information for determining compensatory/recovery services due to the
COVID-19 impact on FAPE for the 2020-21 school year, and Section M
provides information on questions related to returning to school.
■ A Guide to Implementing IEPs and Monitoring Progress of IEP Goals When
Moving Between In-Person, Hybrid, or Virtual Learning Environments for
Individualized Education Program (IEP) Teams
In addition to developing these resources to address pandemic-related needs, the SEA has
shifted IDEA discretionary projects to focus on addressing the disproportionate impact
the COVID-19 pandemic has had on currently and historically marginalized students and
providing technical assistance in ways that maintain the health and safety of facilitators
and participants. Project deliverables shifted to address heightened access inequities,
addressing the unique needs of districts as they navigate how to best support the students
with IEPs and their families as they return to school, address learning loss and equitable
access, attend to mental health needs and many other areas of concern that arose during
the pandemic.
The WDPI’s Title III-funded Multilingual, Multicultural Team has also developed
resources to support the needs of LEAs to provide continuity of learning to English
25
learners as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, including, but not limited to technical
assistance and resources on the topic of supporting English Learners during COVID-19
and COVID-19 guidance for supporting English Learners aligned to Wisconsin’s EL
Policy Handbook.
The WDPI is currently working on its plan to support students experiencing
homelessness with the additional ARP HCY funds. This plan includes supporting LEAs
with additional technical assistance, expanded access to summer programming,
competitive grants, and identifying best practices for supporting this specific student
population. WI DPI is developing an infrastructure to maintain collaboration throughout
the planning and implementation of ARP Homeless and ARP ESSER funds to ensure
supplemental services are provided to students experiencing homelessness. At the SEA,
ARP Homeless funds will not replace ARP ESSER funds, as these are all earmarked to
go out to LEAs through a combination of formula grants and competitive grants.
Additionally, technical assistance will be provided to all LEAs on how to ensure ARP
Homeless funds are used to supplement, not replace, funding to support students
experiencing homelessness (e.g., Title I-A, EHCY, ESSER funds) through methods such
as webinars, frequently asked questions documents, information on the WI DPI EHCY
website, and reminders in the WI DPI EHCY bi-monthly eBrief.
The WDPI’s Community Nutrition Team created resources and technical
assistance specific to COVID-19 pandemic needs and the Child and Adult Care Food
Program. These resources include information and assistance in applying for waivers in
the areas of meal service time flexibility, off-site meals, and allowing for the pick-up of
meals.
D. Maximizing State-Level Funds to Support Students
The Department recognizes that States have an extraordinary opportunity to address the
disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on underserved students through the
ARP Act’s required State set-asides to address the academic impact of lost instructional time,
provide summer learning and enrichment programs, and provide comprehensive afterschool
programs. In this section, SEAs will describe their evidence-based strategies for these
resources.
1. Academic Impact of Lost Instructional Time: Describe how the SEA will use the
funds it reserves under section 2001(f)(1) of the ARP Act (totaling not less than 5
percent of the State’s total allocation of ARP ESSER funds) on evidence-based
interventions to address the academic impact of lost instructional time by
supporting 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, emotional, and mental health needs. The
description must include:
i. A description of the evidence-based interventions (e.g., providing
intensive or high-dosage tutoring, accelerating learning) the SEA has
selected, and the extent to which the SEA will evaluate the impact of
26
those interventions on an ongoing basis to understand if they are
working;
Following state law, the WDPI submitted a draft plan for use of the ESSER III
SEA set-aside to Wisconsin’s Joint Committee on Finance. That legislative committee
revised the plan and prescribed use of the SEA set-aside with Motion #57 in the following
ways: $15.4 million for competitive grants in two rounds with the first round being for
LEAs eligible for sparsity aid to support evidence-based after school programming; $15.4
million for competitive grants in two rounds with the first round being for LEAs eligible
for sparsity aid to support evidence-based summer programming; $5 million for prescribed
reading initiatives that require the SEA and regional service providers to contract with
specific vendors; allocating a total of $2.4 million to specific state schools and one charter
school; $1.2 million for administrative costs; and using remaining funds to allocate
additional ESSER III funds to those LEAs receiving less than $781 per pupil in Title I part
A funds proportionate to the percentage and number of in-person instructional hours those
LEAs provided in the 2020-2021 school year. Therefore, the evidence-based interventions
the WDPI will support are evidence-based after school programming, evidence-based
summer programming, and the evidence-based improvement strategies selected at the local
level by those LEAs eligible to receive the additional ESSER III allocations in accordance
with state rule.
The SEA’s role in addressing summer learning and enrichment is to provide
guidance to LEAs in the selection of appropriate evidence-based programs, frameworks,
and strategies by directing LEAs to national registries and existing WDPI research-based
guiding principles, and in providing or accessing training on how to effectively implement
the chosen programs and practices. For the competitive grants for evidence-based summer
programming, the SEA will utilize “The Evidence Base for Summer Enrichment and
Comprehensive Afterschool Opportunities” (Peterson & Vandell, 2021), the guiding
principles found in The Learning Policy Institute’s “Accelerating Learning As We Build
Back Better” (Darling-Hammond, Edgerton, 2021), and stakeholder feedback collected by
the SEA to inform the allowable activities funded with these ESSER III funds. For the
competitive grants for after school programming, the SEA will utilize “Guiding Principles
for 21st CCLC Programs”, a framework for programs to which applicants will align their
plans for services and activities. This framework is based on research-based practices for
comprehensive out of school time programs as presented in “The Evidence Base for
Summer Enrichment and Comprehensive Afterschool Opportunities” (Peterson & Vandell,
2021), in addition to stakeholder feedback collected by the SEA, which will guide the
department’s vision for these programs and inform its training and technical assistance
priorities.
As a local control state, WDPI will not require any specific evidence-based
improvement strategy to be implemented by all LEAs receiving additional ESSER III
allocations from the state set-aside. The SEA believes that local schools and communities
are in the best position to determine the most appropriate evidence-based programs,
frameworks, and strategies to address academic needs, social and emotional learning, and
student mental health and wellness. The SEA will provide guidance to LEAs regarding
how to evaluate and choose appropriate evidence-based improvement strategies based on
student needs. Each LEA will be required to identify the evidence-based improvement
27
strategies that they are implementing with their ESSER III funds. Corresponding LEA
budgets will be reviewed for alignment with the EBIS selected.
The SEA plans to evaluate the impact of the EBIS implemented with ESSER III
funds, including those implemented with state set-aside funds, through targeted monitoring
of those LEAs eligible for and receiving the competitive grants for after school
programming, the competitive grants for summer programming, and those LEAs receiving
the additional ESSER III funds according to state rule throughout the duration of ARP
ESSER III. The WDPI will also review and analyze available data from the statewide
longitudinal data system
ii. How the evidence-based interventions will specifically address the
disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on certain groups of students,
including each of the student groups listed in question A.3.i.-viii.
When possible, please indicate which data sources the SEA will use
to determine the impact of lost instructional time; and
WDPI is committed to identifying and supporting those students who experienced
a disproportionate impact of COVID-19. The WDPI must also adhere to Wisconsin
Motion 57 which prescribes use of the ESSER III state set-aside. The SEA believes that
local schools and communities are in the best position to determine the most appropriate
evidence-based programs, frameworks, and strategies to address academic needs, social
and emotional learning, and student mental health and wellness. Our schools, out-of-
school time programs, and summer programs in Wisconsin are diverse, and it is essential
for local communities to have access to programs and strategies that are reflective and
inclusive of the diversity that exists within their communities. To support those students
with the greatest needs as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic with the competitive grants
funded by the ESSER III state set-aside, the SEA will review relevant student data
reported by LEAs to the statewide data collection system, known as WISEdata, including
student demographics, attendance, chronic absenteeism, and achievement data in order to
identify groups most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This information will be
used to determine eligibility benchmarks for LEAs who are eligible and choose to apply
for these competitive grants. It will also be used to establish priorities when making
decisions related to the distribution of funds. Additionally, as part of the competitive
application process, LEAs will be required to draw on local data sources to identify the
groups of students they will target for participation. These sources of data may be school
based, such as attendance rates, graduation rates, test scores, grades, student
demographics (economically disadvantaged percentage, students with disabilities
percentage, and English Learners percentage), and may also include community level
indicators, such as rates of food insecurity, homelessness, or unemployment. In addition
to identifying target groups, applicant LEAs will be required to highlight the academic,
social, emotional, and mental health needs of students in the targeted groups that will be
addressed by these competitive grants. Applicant LEAs will also be required to
demonstrate that the evidence-based practices proposed in the grant application address
the identified needs of the targeted groups.
To support those students who have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-
19 in the LEAs eligible to receive additional ESSER III allocations, the SEA will provide
28
guidance to those LEAs regarding how to evaluate and choose appropriate evidence-
based improvement strategies, programs, and frameworks based on student needs. Those
LEAs eligible for additional ESSER III allocations that come from the state set-aside will
be required to identify the evidence-based improvement strategies that they are
implementing with their ESSER III funds and then connect their budget items to those
EBIS. LEA budgets will be reviewed for alignment with the EBIS selected and these
LEAs will be targeted for monitoring to identify impact of the use of these funds.
iii. The extent to which the SEA will use funds it reserves to identify
and engage 1) students who have missed the most in-person
instruction during the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years; and 2)
students who did not consistently participate in remote instruction
when offered during school building closures.
The WDPI will use its ESSER III state set-aside in accordance with Wisconsin
Motion 57. The SEA will provide technical assistance and guidance to those LEAs
eligible to receive the competitive grants and additional ESSER III funds to support them
in identifying those students who missed the most in-person instruction during the 2019-
2020 and 2020-2021 school years, as well as those students who did not consistently
participate in remote instruction when offered during school closures, so that they may
focus their EBIS on those students, or target those students for grant-funded summer
learning or after school programming opportunities.
2. Evidence-Based Summer Learning and Enrichment Programs: Describe how the
SEA will use the funds it reserves under section 2001(f)(2) of the ARP Act
(totaling not less than 1 percent of the State’s total allocation of ARP ESSER
funds) for evidence-based summer learning and enrichment programs, including
those that begin in Summer 2021, and ensure such programs respond to students’
academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs. The description must
include:
i. A description of the evidence-based programs that address the
academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs of students
(e.g., providing intensive or high-dosage tutoring, accelerating
learning) the SEA has selected, and the extent to which the SEA will
evaluate the impact of those programs;
Under the State Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee’s Motion # 57 an earmark was
created for expanding evidence-based summer learning and enrichment opportunities. The
committee directed WDPI to use $15.4 million from the ESSER III state set-aside for evidence-
based summer programming opportunities that will be awarded as competitive grants. The
competitive grant is restricted in the first round to those school districts that were eligible to
receive a sparsity aid payment in fiscal year 2021. If funds remain, there will be a second round
of the competitive grant available to all districts. The WDPI recognizes the impact that quality
summer learning programs have on students served and will create these competitive grants
guided by the following guiding principles identified by the SEA:
29
● An equitable, multi-level system of supports where schools provide
varying types of supports at differing levels of intensity to proactively
and responsively adjust to the needs of the whole child leads to student
success.
● Summer learning programming should create opportunities to foster joy
and engagement.
● High-quality, standards-aligned curriculum can be contextualized within
place-based and/or project-based learning, which will provide rigor and
relevance in students’ learning.
● All students need to have access to and be engaged with grade-level
curriculum.
● Scaffolding students towards proficiency in grade-level standards means
providing “just-in-time” supports provided within the context of grade-
level instruction.
● To increase program effectiveness and maximize return on investment,
systems should focus on ensuring strong student attendance and
productive use of high-quality instructional time.
● School systems should determine the needs of students in their schools
and design an approach that eliminates barriers for students to access
summer learning and also addresses social and emotional wellbeing.
The WDPI will also be guided by the vision outlined in The Learning Policy Institute’s
“Accelerating Learning As We Build Back Better” (Darling-Hammond, Edgerton, 2021). This
vision includes the following components of effective summer and regular school year learning
programs:
● Experience warm relationships and social-emotional supports achieved
by redesigning schools so that they are relationship-centered, with built-
in time for creating community, trust, and belonging among students and
with families;
● Engage in outdoor play and exercise, expressive arts, and collaborative
activities that support brain development and learning;
● Encounter authentic, culturally responsive learning tasks and inquiry
projects connected to their experiences that allow them to understand and
positively impact their environment;
● Assess what students need both socially and emotionally as well as
academically, address trauma with healing and support, and identify the
next steps they are ready to take in their learning rather than labeling
them.
The WI DPI has provided comprehensive guidance on how to plan summer learning for
the whole child at https://dpi.wi.gov/cal/summer-learning . In addition to the guiding principles
and vision described above, the SEA will incorporate stakeholder feedback collected by the SEA
into the design of these competitive grants. The WDPI will share models and examples of
successful evidence-based summer programming opportunities and provide resources and
technical assistance in the implementation of these ESSER III funded summer program
opportunities.
30
The WDPI will evaluate the impact of the programs on an ongoing basis to understand if
they are working through targeted monitoring of LEA recipients of the competitive grants
coupled with analysis of data available in the state’s longitudinal data system.
ii. How the evidence-based programs will specifically address the
disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on certain groups of students,
including each of the student groups listed in question A.3. i.--viii.
When possible, please indicate which data sources the SEA will use
to identify students most in need of summer learning and enrichment
programs; and
The WDPI will use its ESSER III state set-aside in accordance with Wisconsin Motion
57. The WDPI is committed to ensuring that ARPA funds are used to provide services to the
students most in need of support as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, including students in the
groups listed in question A.3.i.-v.i.i.i. To that end, the SEA will review relevant student data
reported by LEAs to the statewide data collection system, known as WISEdata, including student
demographics, attendance, and achievement data in order to identify groups most impacted by
the COVID-19 pandemic. This information will be used to determine eligibility benchmarks for
LEAs wishing to apply for the competitive grant funded by the ESSER III state set-aside. It will
also be used to establish priorities when making decisions related to the distribution of funds.
Additionally, as part of the competitive application process, LEAs will be required to draw on
local data sources to identify the groups of students they will target for participation. These
sources of data may be school based, such as attendance rates, graduation rates, test scores,
grades, student demographics (economically disadvantaged percentage, students with disabilities
percentage, and English Learners percentage), and may also include community level indicators,
such as rates of food insecurity, homelessness, or unemployment. In addition to identifying target
groups, applicant LEAs will be required to highlight the academic, social, emotional, and mental
health needs of students in the targeted groups that will be addressed by the ARPA-funded
summer programming and enrichment opportunity. Applicant LEAs will also be required to
demonstrate that the evidence-based practices proposed in the grant application address the
identified needs of the targeted groups.
iii. The extent to which the SEA will use funds it reserves to identify
and engage 1) students who have missed the most in-person
instruction during the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years; and 2)
students who did not consistently participate in remote instruction
when offered during school building closures.
The WDPI will use its ESSER III state set-aside in accordance with
Wisconsin Legislature’s Joint Committee on Finance Motion #57. The WDPI will
support those LEAs eligible to receive competitive grants for summer
programming and enrichment opportunities from the state set-aside with technical
assistance and resources to identify those students in their communities who
should be targeted for participating in summer programming and enrichment
opportunities, including students who missed the most in-person instruction
during the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years, along with those students who
31
did not consistently participate in remote instruction when offered. Technical
assistance and resources from the SEA will focus on supporting LEAs in using
attendance and chronically absent data available in the statewide longitudinal data
system along with student achievement data and local data those LEAs have
access to in order to identify students most in need. The SEA will also provide
models or examples of effective evidence-based summer programming and
enrichment opportunities. In the competitive application process, LEAs will
conduct a needs assessment and describe how they have identified students within
the target population for services. Based on the needs assessment, applicants will
provide a plan, based on evidence-based practices, to mitigate some of the
identified academic and/or non-academic barriers the identified students face(d).
Finally, applicants will propose effective outreach strategies to target and reach
the prioritized population of students, as well as ongoing retention efforts, which
may include such stakeholder-identified focal areas as building trust, fostering
relationships, and increasing positive experiences between families and schools.
3. Evidence-Based Comprehensive Afterschool Programs: Describe how the SEA
will use the funds it reserves under section 2001(f)(3) of the ARP Act (totaling
not less than 1 percent of the State’s total allocation of ARP ESSER funds) for
evidence-based comprehensive afterschool programs (including, for example,
before-school programming), and ensure such programs respond to students’
academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs. The description must
include:
i. A description of the evidence-based programs (e.g., including
partnerships with community-based organizations) the SEA has
selected, and the extent to which the SEA will evaluate the impact of
those programs;
Motion #57 included an earmark for expanding evidence-based after-school programing
opportunities. The committee directed WDPI to use $15.4 million from the ESSER III state set-
aside for evidence-based afterschool programming opportunities that will be awarded as
competitive grants. The competitive grant is restricted in the first round to those school districts
that were eligible to receive a sparsity aid payment in fiscal year 2021. If funds remain, there will
be a second round of the competitive grant available to all districts. The WDPI recognizes the
impact that quality out-of-school time (OST) programs have on students served and will create
these competitive grants guided by the model established by the successful 21st Century
Community Learning Center (CCLC) grant program administered by the SEA. The WDPI has
developed Guiding Principles for 21st CCLC Programs, which will guide the department’s
vision for these programs and inform its training and technical assistance priorities. The twelve
Guiding Principles, which reflect the research on effective OST programs, encompass:
● Development of youth centered vision, mission, and goals
● Strong leadership and qualified staff
● Sound fiscal management and sustainability planning
● Commitment to program improvement
● Diverse programming
● Academic enrichment
32
● Integrated social and emotional learning
● Student voice, choice, and leadership opportunities
● Safe, supported, and welcoming program environment
● Community collaboration
● School day collaboration and alignment
● Family Engagement
The SEA will utilize ESSER III state set-aside funds to promote an evidence-based
framework for programs to which applicants will align their plans for services and activities.
This framework is based on research-based practices for comprehensive OST programs as
presented in “The Evidence Base for Summer Enrichment and Comprehensive Afterschool
Opportunities” (Peterson & Vandell, 2021) and reflects the following:
● Active, hands-on learning experiences
● Development and practice of interpersonal competencies
● Meaningful and relevant activities and learning opportunities
● Opportunities to practice skills that promote mastery
● Learning that engages students in new experiences and
development of new skills, while prioritizing student voice and
choice
● Programming that engages community partnerships and
collaboration, including adult family members
In addition to the guiding principles and evidence-based framework described above, the SEA
will incorporate stakeholder feedback collected by the SEA into the design of these competitive
grants.
Each applicant for the competitive grant program will be required to identify evidence-
based activities that align with the framework described above and that are most appropriate for
their setting and the identified academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs of students.
A description of these practices and how they align with the framework will be included in their
application. In addition, applicants will be expected to identify meaningful and measurable
objectives and annually report on their progress to WDPI. The SEA will track this progress
annually and provide technical assistance in partnership with the Wisconsin Afterschool
Network, and other local, statewide, and national partners, to address continuous improvement
needs and improve outcomes for local programs.
Applicants will be encouraged to work with community partners, such as community-
based organizations, that have expertise in the area of OST programming. These partnerships
will allow applicants to draw on the evidence-based practices being used by those organizations
that are particularly appropriate for OST programs.
As a local control state, WDPI will not choose an evidence-based program to be required
of all applications. Instead, each applicant will be required to identify evidence-based programs
that are most appropriate for their setting and include those in their application and proposed
program plan. The SEA will provide guidance to applicants regarding how to evaluate and
choose appropriate evidence-based programs drawing, in particular, on the framework developed
by Peterson and Vandell (2021) described above.
The WDPI will evaluate the impact of the programs on an ongoing basis through targeted
monitoring of LEA recipients of the competitive grants coupled with analysis of data available in
the state’s longitudinal data system.
33
ii. How the evidence-based programs will specifically address the
disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on certain groups of students,
including each of the student groups listed in question A.3.i.-viii.
When possible, please indicate which data sources the SEA will use
to identify students most in need of comprehensive afterschool
programming; and
The WDPI will use its ESSER III state set-aside in accordance with Motion #57. The
WDPI is committed to ensuring that ARPA funds are used to provide services to the students
most in need of support as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, including students in the groups
listed in question A.3.i.-v.i.i.i. To that end, the SEA will review relevant student data reported by
LEAs to the statewide data collection system, known as WISEdata, including student
demographics, attendance, and achievement data in order to identify groups most impacted by
the COVID-19 pandemic. This information will be used to determine eligibility benchmarks for
LEAs wishing to apply for the competitive grant funded by the ESSER III state set-aside. It will
also be used to establish priorities when making decisions related to the distribution of funds.
Additionally, as part of the competitive application process, LEAs will be required to draw on
local data sources to identify the groups of students they will target for participation. These
sources of data may be school based, such as attendance rates, graduation rates, test scores,
grades, student demographics (economically disadvantaged percentage, students with disabilities
percentage, and English Learners percentage), and school and district Youth Risk Behavior
Survey (YRBS) results. They may also include community level indicators, such as rates of food
insecurity, homelessness, unemployment, as well as the availability of high-quality OST
programs. In addition to identifying target groups, applicant LEAs will be required to highlight
the academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs of students in the targeted groups that
will be addressed by the ARPA-funded OST programming. Applicant LEAs will also be required
to demonstrate that the evidence-based practices proposed in the grant application address the
identified needs of the targeted groups.
iii. the extent to which the SEA will use funds it reserves to identify and
engage 1) students who have missed the most in-person instruction
during the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years; and 2) students
who did not consistently participate in remote instruction when
offered during school building closures.
The WDPI will use its ESSER III state set-aside in accordance with Motion #57. The
WDPI will support those LEAs eligible to receive competitive grants for afterschool
programming from the state set-aside with technical assistance and resources to identify those
students in their communities who should be targeted for participating in these opportunities,
including students who missed the most in-person instruction during the 2019-2020 and 2020-
2021 school years, along with those students who did not consistently participate in remote
instruction when offered. Technical assistance and resources from the SEA will focus on
supporting LEAs in using existing data and inter-agency partnerships to assist grant applicants in
identifying the group(s) of students who missed the most in-person instruction during the 2019-
20 and 2020-21 school years, and/or those students who did not consistently participate in
remote instruction when offered during school building closures. Additionally, in the competitive
34
application process, LEAs will conduct a needs assessment and describe how they have
identified students within the target population for services. Based on the needs assessment,
applicants will provide a plan, based on evidence-based practices, to mitigate some of the
identified academic and/or non-academic barriers the identified students face(d). Finally,
applicants will propose effective outreach strategies to target and reach the prioritized population
of students, as well as ongoing retention efforts, which may include such stakeholder-identified
focal areas as building trust, fostering relationships, and increasing positive experiences between
families and schools
4. Emergency Needs: If the SEA plans to reserve funds for emergency needs under
section 2001(f)(4) of the ARP Act to address issues responding to the COVID-19
pandemic, describe the anticipated use of those funds, including the extent to
which these funds will build SEA and LEA capacity to ensure students’ and
staff’s health and safety; to meet students’ academic, social, emotional, and
mental health needs; and to use ARP ESSER funds to implement evidence-based
interventions.
As prescribed by Motion #57, there are no funds set aside for emergency funding.
E. Supporting LEAs in Planning for and Meeting Students’ Needs
The Department recognizes that the safe return to in-person instruction must be accompanied
by a focus on meeting students’ academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs, and by
addressing the opportunity gaps that existed before – and were exacerbated by – the
pandemic. In this section, SEAs will describe how they will support their LEAs in
developing high-quality plans for LEAs’ use of ARP ESSER funds to achieve these
objectives.
1. LEA Plans for the Use of ARP ESSER Funds: Describe what the SEA will
require its LEAs to include in LEA plans consistent with the ARP ESSER
requirements for the use of ARP ESSER funds, how the SEA will require such
plans to be made available to the public, and the deadline by which the LEA must
submit its ARP ESSER plan (which must be a reasonable timeline and should be
within no later than 90 days after receiving its ARP ESSER allocation). The LEA
plans must include, at a minimum:
i. The extent to which and how the funds will be used to implement
prevention and mitigation strategies that are, to the greatest extent
practicable, in line with the most recent CDC guidance, in order to
continuously and safely operate schools for in-person learning;
ii. How the LEA will use the funds it reserves under section 2001(e)(1)
of the ARP Act (totaling not less than 20 percent of the LEA’s total
allocation of ARP ESSER funds) to address the academic impact of
lost instructional time through the implementation of evidence-based
interventions, such as summer learning or summer enrichment,
35
extended day, comprehensive afterschool programs, or extended
school year programs;
iii. How the LEA will spend its remaining ARP ESSER funds consistent
with section 2001(e)(2) of the ARP Act; and
iv. How the LEA will ensure that the interventions it implements,
including but not limited to the interventions under section
2001(e)(1) of the ARP Act to address the academic impact of lost
instructional time, 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.
WDPI will require LEAs to submit their ARP ESSER application within 90 days after the
application is available in Wisconsin’s federal grants management portal, WISEgrants. The ARP
ESSER application will require LEAs to provide:
● assurances to follow all state, federal, and local statutes, regulations, and policies;
● information regarding requirements for the Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and
Continuity of Services Plan (as described in Section B of this document); and
● the plan for ARP ESSER III funds.
The extent to which Wisconsin school districts and individual schools choose to
implement the infection control and mitigation measures recommended by the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention( CDC), the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS)
and the best practice recommendations of the WDPI is a local decision.
The WDPI works closely with the state health agency and provides and communicates
recommendations to LEAs that are based upon DHS and CDC guidance. The most recent
guidance was published on August 10, 2021, and is found at https://dpi.wi.gov/sspw/covid-19-
information. LEAs are instructed to work with the local and tribal health departments to best
implement the guidance. WDPI also recommended that LEAs work with their insurance carriers
and legal counsel in determining to what degree the LEA implements mitigation measures.
As a local control state, the SEA will assist schools and districts in identifying local data
sources that can assist them in identifying their greatest needs, groups most at risk and to guide
instructional and social and emotional learning and supports. While the WDPI believes that local
schools and communities are in the best position to determine the most appropriate evidence-
based programs, frameworks, and strategies to address academic needs, social and emotional
learning, and student mental health and wellness, a consistent theme in SEA stakeholder
engagement sessions and feedback forms was that the SEA create a list of evidence-based
improvement strategies (EBIS) for LEAs to consider selecting and supporting with their ESSER
III funds. In response to this feedback, the WDPI will create an ESSER III application in the
state’s federal grant management system, WISEgrants, with a pre-populated list of EBIS
consistent with EBIS that have been identified by USDE, and existing SEA priorities and
initiatives along with the option of “other” where LEAs can identify an alternative EBIS they
have identified as meeting the needs of local students. In this case, LEAs will also be asked to
36
identify the tier of evidence that EBIS meets and to provide a link to the source. Designing the
application in this way will ultimately ease the burden on the SEA of identifying the EBIS LEAs
select to support with ESSER III funds, and will also allow for the SEA to identify, create, and
support appropriate supports for LEAs.
The WDPI will program WISEgrants to require LEAs to identify how each budget item
will support prevention and mitigation strategies; evidenced based improvement strategies; or be
used for other purposes to prepare for, respond to, or prevent COVID-19. LEAs will identify
which evidence-based improvement strategies they will implement with ARP ESSER III funds
(funds from the formula as well as additional funding provided through Motion #57) and WDPI
will program validations with WISEgrants to ensure LEAs budget and expend funds required to
be used for evidence-based improvement strategies.
WDPI will also require (in WISEgrants) LEAs to identify the extent to which they will
use educator practice and student outcome data to ensure that the interventions it implements will
respond to the academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs of all students.
In order to support LEAs and ensure that LEAs have complete, accurate plans, WDPI
will program WISEgrants to create each LEA’s ARP ESSER plan based on what they put in their
application and what they include in their detailed budgets. WISEgrants will generate an ARP
ESSER III Plan Report for each LEA when their application is approved, and the system will
direct LEAs to then post their ARP ESSER III Plan on their website. This functionality reduces
significant burden for LEAs. Each time an LEA submits a revision to the application or budget
that is approved by DPI, WISEgrants will generate an updated ARP ESSER III Plan for the LEA
to post on their website. Additionally, WDPI staff will also ensure that all LEAs’ ARP ESSER
III Plans are available to the public by posting them to a link on our website:
https://dpi.wi.gov/arp/esser-iii. The link will be created once DPI approves plans.
2. LEA Consultation: Describe how the SEA will, in planning for the use of ARP
ESSER funds, ensure that, consistent with the ARP ESSER requirements], its
LEAs engage in meaningful consultation with stakeholders, including, but not
limited to:
i. students;
ii. families;
iii. school and district administrators (including special education
administrators); and
iv. teachers, principals, school leaders, other educators, school staff, and
their unions.
The LEA must also engage in meaningful consultation with each of the following
to the extent present in or served by the LEA:
i. Tribes;
ii. civil rights organizations (including disability rights organizations);
and
iii. stakeholders representing the interests of children with disabilities,
English learners, children experiencing homelessness, children and
youth in foster care, migratory students, children who are
incarcerated, and other underserved students.
37
The description must also include how the SEA will ensure that LEAs provide the
public the opportunity to provide input in the development of the LEA’s plan for
the use of ARP ESSER funds and take such input into account.
LEAs must include stakeholders in the planning process for both the Safe Return to In-
Person Instruction and Continuity of Services Plan as well as the ESSER III plan for funding, In
response to stakeholder feedback, the WDPI will provide LEAs resources for meaningful
stakeholder engagement. These resources include an editable slide deck that LEAs can customize
and use as part of their local stakeholder engagement efforts, and state and national resources on
effective stakeholder engagement practices.
As part of the application process ARP ESSER application process in WISEgrants, LEAs
will be required to describe their LEA’s level of stakeholder engagement, including the extent to
which they engaged currently and historically marginalized groups, such as students and families
of color, American Indian tribes (to the extent present in their communities), stakeholders
representing the interests of children with disabilities, youth in foster care, migratory students,
children who are incarcerated, and other underserved students, and civil rights organizations.
3. Describe how the SEA will support and monitor its LEAs in using ARP ESSER
funds. The description must include:
i. How the SEA will support and monitor its LEAs’ implementation of
evidence-based interventions that respond to students’ academic,
social, emotional, and mental health needs, such as through summer
learning or summer enrichment, extended day, comprehensive
afterschool programs, or extended school year programs – including
the extent to which the SEA will collect evidence of the
effectiveness of interventions employed;
As a local control state, the WDPI believes that local schools and communities are in the
best position to determine the most appropriate evidence-based programs, frameworks, and
strategies to address academic needs, social and emotional learning, and student mental health
and wellness. The SEA supports LEAs with technical assistance and resources in identifying
their greatest needs, groups most at risk, and to guide decisions about instructional and social and
emotional learning and supports. These resources include the WISEdash information system for
education data, which includes a public state education data portal and a secure portal with local
LEA data. WISEdash is one of the key tools LEAs use while digging into their data to do
improvement planning. WISExplore is a data inquiry process developed and supported by
regional service providers in collaboration with SEA staff to support LEAs in effectively
analyzing their data and using it to engage in district and school improvement efforts.
WISExplore consists of common data inquiry process that teachers and school leaders statewide
can use to guide their improvement planning efforts. The Data Inquiry Journal is embedded
within WISEdash for Districts. This is the template that WISExplore has developed to be used by
districts for school improvement planning and each regional service provider has staff that assist
LEAs in using the tool and process. The data inquiry journal allows educators to document
ongoing data investigation and design continuous improvement plans all in one convenient
location. This interactive tool, designed by Wisconsin educators, imports local data for analysis
within a secure platform to protect student privacy. It includes all the essential components for
continuous improvement, meeting requirements for continuous improvement planning in ESEA
38
and IDEA by supporting LEA teams as they engage in critical conversations about local data to
address gaps and promote equitable outcomes for each learner. This tool contains three parts: a
student data inquiry component, a practice inquiry component, and a summary and improvement
plan. Together, these three parts lead educator teams through a research-based process of data
inquiry and improvement planning. The data inquiry journal automatically uploads and integrates
data pictures to document progress over time and includes options to export data for further
internal use and required state reporting.
While the WDPI believes that local schools and communities are in the best position to
determine the most appropriate evidence-based programs, frameworks, and strategies to address
academic needs, social and emotional learning, and student mental health and wellness, a
consistent theme in SEA stakeholder engagement sessions and feedback forms was that the SEA
create a list of evidence-based improvement strategies (EBIS) for LEAs to consider selecting and
supporting with their ESSER III funds. In response to this feedback, the WDPI will create an
ESSER III application in the state’s federal grant management system, WISEgrants, with a pre-
populated list of EBIS consistent with EBIS that have been identified by USDE, and existing
SEA priorities and initiatives along with the option of “other” where LEAs can identify an
alternative EBIS they have identified as meeting the needs of local students. In this case, LEAs
will also be asked to identify the tier of evidence that EBIS meets and to provide a link to the
source. Designing the application in this way will ultimately ease the burden on the SEA of
identifying the EBIS LEAs select to support with ESSER III funds, and will also allow for the
SEA to identify, create, and support appropriate supports for LEAs. As part of the ESSER III
application, LEAs will also be required to develop a budget and connect each detailed budget
item to an ESSER allowed activity, including EBIS. WDPI staff reviewing these applications
will review for consistency and coherence between the selected EBIS and budget items.
The SEA will leverage an existing support structure, the Technical Assistance Network
for Improvement (TA Network), made up of regional service providers, to provide more
extensive supportof federally identified schools. Regional staff within the TA Network provide
technical assistance to federally identified schools/districts for their continuous improvement
efforts, including the selection and implementation of evidence-based improvement strategies
intended to improve student outcomes, with acceleration for students of color and students with
IEPs. TA Network teams’ focus on coaching needs assessments with root cause analysis, along
with auditing resource inequities and supporting continuous improvement plan development for
their districts/schools ensures strategic opportunities to address COVID impacts, including
learning loss, equitable access, mental health issues, and other concerns that arose during the
pandemic through in-person, virtual, and hybrid formats. The SEA will engage in targeted
monitoring of additional LEAs based on staff capacity in order to determine the outcomes
achieved with ESSER III dollars. These monitoring efforts will focus on reviewing LEA data,
including student achievement data and opportunity to learn measures.
Given the time frame for spending ESSER III funds and what is known about the length
of time needed to achieve full implementation and results of evidence-based improvement
strategies, WDPI believes that the information we will ultimately collect will be outcome data on
initial implementation of EBIS.
ii. How the SEA will support and monitor its LEAs in specifically
addressing the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
39
on certain groups of students, including each of the student groups
listed in question A.3.i.-viii; and
To support those students who have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 the
SEA will provide guidance to LEAs regarding how to evaluate and choose appropriate evidence-
based improvement strategies, programs, and frameworks based on student needs. The SEA
supports LEAs with technical assistance and resources in identifying their greatest needs, groups
most at risk, and to guide decisions about instructional and social and emotional learning and
supports. These resources include the WISEdash information system for education data and the
WISExplore data inquiry process with the embedded data inquiry journal.
The SEA will leverage an existing support structure, the Technical Assistance Network
for Improvement made up of regional service providers, to engage in support of federally
identified schools. Regional staff within the TA Network provide technical assistance to
federally identified schools/districts for their continuous improvement efforts, including the
selection and implementation of evidence-based improvement strategies intended to improve
student outcomes, with acceleration for students of color and students with IEPs. TA Network
teams’ focus on coaching needs assessments with root cause analysis, along with auditing
resource inequities and supporting continuous improvement plan development for their
districts/schools ensures strategic opportunities to address COVID impacts, including learning
loss, equitable access, mental health issues, and other concerns that arose during the pandemic
through in-person, virtual, and hybrid formats. The SEA will engage in targeted monitoring of
additional LEAs based on staff capacity in order to determine the outcomes achieved with
ESSER III dollars. These monitoring efforts will focus on reviewing LEA data, including student
achievement data and opportunity to learn measures.
Given the time frame for spending ESSER III funds and what is known about the length
of time needed to achieve full implementation and results of evidence-based improvement
strategies, WDPI believes that the information we will ultimately collect will be outcome data on
initial implementation of EBIS.
iii. How the SEA will support and monitor its LEAs in using ARP
ESSER funds to identify, reengage, and support students most likely
to have experienced the impact of lost instructional time on student
learning, such as:
a. Students who have missed the most in-person instruction during
the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years;
b. Students who did not consistently participate in remote
instruction when offered during school building closures; and
c. Students most at-risk of dropping out of school.
The WDPI will support and monitor LEAs in using ARP ESSER funds to identify, re-engage,
and support students most likely to have experienced the impact of lost instruction time on
student learning by providing technical assistance in utilizing data in the WISEdata and
WISEdash systems to identify those students who missed the most in-person instruction during
the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years, those students who did not consistently participate in
remote instruction, and those students most at risk of dropping out of school, including student
40
demographics, attendance, chronic absenteeism, and achievement data, along with the various
early warning system data.
To support those students who have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 the
SEA will provide guidance to LEAs regarding how to evaluate and choose appropriate evidence-
based improvement strategies, programs, and frameworks based on student needs. The SEA
supports LEAs with technical assistance and resources in identifying their greatest needs, groups
most at risk, and in guiding decisions about instructional and social and emotional learning and
supports.
The SEA will leverage an existing support structure, the Technical Assistance Network
for Improvement made up of regional service providers, to engage in more extensive monitoring
of federally identified schools. Regional staff within the TA Network provide technical
assistance to federally identified schools/districts for their continuous improvement efforts,
including the selection and implementation of evidence-based improvement strategies intended
to improve student outcomes, with acceleration for students of color and students with IEPs. TA
Network teams’ focus on coaching needs assessments with root cause analysis, along with
auditing resource inequities and supporting continuous improvement plan development for their
districts/schools ensures strategic opportunities to address COVID impacts, including learning
loss, equitable access, mental health issues, and other concerns that arose during the pandemic
through in-person, virtual, and hybrid formats. The SEA will engage in targeted monitoring of
additional LEAs based on staff capacity in order to determine the outcomes achieved with
ESSER III dollars. These monitoring efforts will focus on reviewing LEA data, including student
achievement data and opportunity to learn measures.
Given the time frame for spending ESSER III funds and what is known about the length
of time needed to achieve full implementation and results of evidence-based improvement
strategies, WDPI believes that the information we will ultimately collect will be outcome data on
initial implementation of EBIS.
4. Describe the extent to which the SEA will support its LEAs in implementing
additional strategies for taking educational equity into account in expending ARP
ESSER funds, including but not limited to:
i. Allocating funding both to schools and for districtwide activities
based on student need, and
ii. Implementing an equitable and inclusive return to in-person
instruction. An inclusive return to in-person instruction includes, but
is not limited to, establishing policies and practices that avoid the
over-use of exclusionary discipline measures (including in- and out-
of-school suspensions) and creating a positive and supportive
learning environment for all students.
The WDPI recognizes the importance of supporting LEAs in utilizing ESSER III funds to
support those students who have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Preliminary national and state data show that inequities that existed prior to the pandemic have
been exacerbated. The WDPI will provide technical assistance and resources to support LEAs in
identifying their greatest needs so that they may plan for and expend ARP ESSER III funds in
ways that provide the greatest supports to those students who have been impacted the most.
41
As a local control state, the SEA will assist schools and districts in identifying local data
sources that can assist them in identifying their greatest needs, groups most at risk and to guide
instructional and social and emotional learning and supports. These data sources include the
WISEdash information system for education data, which includes a public state education data
portal, a secure portal with local LEA data, and the WISExplore data inquiry process to support
LEAs in effectively analyzing their data and using it to engage in district and school
improvement efforts. The data inquiry journal allows educators to document ongoing data
investigation and design continuous improvement plans all in one convenient location. This
interactive tool, designed by Wisconsin educators, imports local data for analysis within a secure
platform to protect student privacy. It includes all the essential components for continuous
improvement, meeting requirements for continuous improvement planning in ESEA and IDEA
by supporting LEA teams as they engage in critical conversations about local data to address
gaps and promote equitable outcomes for each learner. This tool contains three parts: a student
data inquiry component, a practice inquiry component, and a summary and improvement plan.
Together, these three parts lead educator teams through a research-based process of data inquiry
and improvement planning. The data inquiry journal automatically uploads and integrates data
pictures to document progress over time and includes options to export data for further internal
use and required state reporting. In addition, to support LEAs in meeting the needs of students
with IEPs, WDPI also has resources on progress monitoring of IEP goals.
Additional technical assistance resources that the SEA supports and encourages LEAs to
utilize include the Wisconsin School Mental Health Framework, resources to support
comprehensive school mental health and SEL implementation, trauma sensitive schools online
learning series, which includes two modules specifically designed to provide learning on
alternative school discipline policies and practices; restorative practices training through the
Wisconsin Safe and Healthy Schools (WISH) Center; team-based trainings on establishing and
implementing an equitable multi-level system of support and PBIS through the Wisconsin RtI
Center; youth mental health first aid training; and guidance on effective trauma sensitive
culturally responsive truancy enforcement, among others. Recognizing the role that race plays in
a predictor of student achievement outcomes, WDPI also offers LEAs the Culturally Responsive
Problem Solving module and guide.
F. Supporting the Educator Workforce
The Department recognizes the toll that the COVID-19 pandemic has taken on the Nation’s
educators as well as students. In this section, SEAs will describe strategies for supporting and
stabilizing the educator workforce and for making staffing decisions that will support
students’ academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs.
1. Supporting and Stabilizing the Educator Workforce:
i. Describe the extent to which the State is facing shortages of
educators, education administration personnel, and other school
personnel involved in safely reopening schools, and the extent to
which they vary by region/type of school district and/or groups of
educators (e.g., special educators and related services personnel and
paraprofessionals; bilingual or English as a second language
educators; science, technology, engineering, and math (“STEM”)
42
educators; career and technical education (“CTE”) educators; early
childhood educators). Cite specific data on shortages and needs
where available.
Wisconsin continues to face a shortage of educators across the state. Shortages
predated the COVID-19 pandemic. Wisconsin determines shortage areas through data on
teacher licensure, with specific Tier I licenses indicating shortages.
Wisconsin has a tiered licensing system. Tier I licenses are for immediate needs.
Tier I includes licenses requested by school districts to cover assignments for which there
are no qualified applicants at Tiers II through IV. Tier II licenses are initial licenses
granted to candidates that have just completed all requirements leading to a provisional
license. Once a licensee has completed six semesters of successful teaching experience
on a Tier II license, they may move to a Tier III lifetime license. Tier IV licenses are
optional licenses for those who have completed national board certification or the
Wisconsin master educator requirements.
The data below in table F1 represents the number of Tier I, 1-year licenses with
stipulations that were issued in these subject areas for Wisconsin school districts over the
last three school years for which Wisconsin has complete data. These are considered
emergency licenses and in order to get such a license, school districts must attest they
could not find or hire a qualified educator regularly licensed in these subject areas for that
assignment.
Table F1
Wisconsin Tier I License Numbers School Years 17-18, 18-19, and 19-20
Shortage Area 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20
Special Education 914 1292 1270
Bilingual 222 186 182
ESL 118 105 93
Stem 285 218 231
CTE 82 71 72
Early Childhood 103 126 170
School counselors 27 21 30
School Social workers 31 28 30
School Psychologists 10 22 68
Nurses N/A N/A N/A
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There are some areas of licensure Wisconsin does not track in this manner, such as school
nurse licensure, as those licenses are not required through the Department of Public
Instruction (DPI). School nurses must, instead, have licensure to work as a registered
nurse through the Department of Safety and Professional Services.
ii. Describe how the SEA will assist its LEAs in identifying the most
urgent areas of shortages or potential shortages, with particular plans
for individual LEAs facing the most significant needs (e.g., by
avoiding layoffs, providing high-quality professional learning
opportunities, and addressing the impact of stress or trauma on
educators). Include a description of how other Federal COVID-19
funding (e.g., ESSER and GEER funds under the CARES Act and
CRRSA Act) have already been used to avoid layoffs during the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Wisconsin will continue to evaluate licensure data to identify shortage areas and work with
educational stakeholders to address the supply of qualified educators in Wisconsin schools.
Data collected in Wisconsin’s federal grants management system, WISEgrants, for CARES
reporting showed a less than 1% difference in the number of FTEs employed by school districts
between September 30, 2019, and September 30, 2020.
Table F2
Number of FTE Positions September, 2019 and September, 2020
Full-time equivalent Full-time equivalent Full-time equivalent Difference between
(FTE) positions as of (FTE) positions as of (FTE) positions as of Sept 30, 2019 and Sept
September 30, 2019 March 13, 2020 September 30, 2020 30, 2020
108,381.46 108,376.93 108,291.65 Less than 1%
(89.81 fewer FTE)
Data source: WISEgrants, August 2, 2021; note: 17 LEAs not reporting
Of the funds claimed as of August 2, 2021, LEAs have used 37.77% of their ESSER II; 23.35%
GEER; and 14.16% ESSER I on personnel costs including salaries and fringe benefits.
44
Table F3
ESSER Grant Funds Claimed for Personnel
Grant Program Personnel Costs Total Amount Percentage of Personnel Costs
Claimed to Date Claimed to Date Claimed to Date
(salaries and fringe
benefits - only)
ESSER I $15,724,216.45 $111,037,439.37 14.16%
GEER $4,287,792.32 $18,365,303.17 23.35%
ESSER II $8,700,509.18 $23,035,594.82 37.77%
Data source: WISEgrants, August 2, 2021
In order to ensure the LEAs were paying their employees and contractors to the greatest extent
practicable under the CARES Act, WDPI asked LEA to attest to one of the following statements:
● Option 1: The LEA has been paying, and will continue to pay, employees and contractors
in the same manner as before any disruptions or closures related to the coronavirus.
● Option 2: The LEA has discontinued payments to any employee or contractor during
disruptions or closures related to the coronavirus but will resume these payments upon
receipt of CARES Act funds.
● Option 3: The LEA will continue to pay employees and contractors to the greatest extent
practicable. The LEA will be required to provide a reasonable explanation as to why the
LEA is unable to pay its employees and contractors in the same manner as before any
disruptions or closures related to the coronavirus, and how payments to employees and
contractors will be made to the greatest extent practicable.
22 LEAs affirmed that they would be able to resume payments to staff and contractors upon
receipt of the CARES funds.
45
Table F4
LEA Ability to Pay Employees and Contractors to the Greatest Extent Practicable Under
CARES
Options Number of LEAs
Option 1 326
The LEA has been paying, and will continue to pay, employees and contractors
in the same manner as before any disruptions or closures related to the
coronavirus.
Option 2 22
The LEA has discontinued payments to any employee or contractor during
disruptions or closures related to the coronavirus, but will resume these
payments upon receipt of CARES Act funds.
Option 3 96
The LEA will continue to pay employees and contractors to the greatest extent
practicable. The LEA will be required to provide a reasonable explanation as to
why the LEA is unable to pay its employees and contractors in the same manner
as before any disruptions or closures related to the coronavirus, and how
payments to employees and contractors will be made to the greatest extent
practicable.
The WDPI supports LEAs in identifying other urgent areas of staffing need in various
ways, including the following:
● The goals of the School-Based Mental Health Professionals
(SBMHP) grant are to increase the number of school-based mental
health professionals recruited and retained in underserved LEAs
and reduce the ratio of students to mental health service providers.
Another goal is to increase the number of SBMHP hired annually
for each LEA with a demonstrated need served by the grant
compared with the average number of such professionals hired in
each LEA in the five years prior to the grant. This will be
achieved through the creation of online certification programs that
meet all licensing requirements through University of Wisconsin
(UW) Pupil Services educational programs to expand pathways for
interested candidates from rural or remote communities, stipends
to reduce cost for students, and grow your own initiatives to recruit
from within communities to become licensed school based mental
health professionals.
46
● Wisconsin Safe and Healthy Schools (WISH) Center facilitates an
annual needs assessment with the field to identify the most urgent
needs for professional development. With the pandemic, the needs
assessment results continued to highlight the need for continued
support around mental health, including the mental health needs of
staff. The WISH Center uses the result to create an annual training
calendar to facilitate training around mental health to support both
students and staff. They have also provided office hours for LEA
staff to support immediate needs during COVID.
● The Wisconsin Center for Resilient Schools (WCRS) funded
through the CARES Act ESSER 1 allocation, provides coaching to
school and district teams to ensure full-scale implementation of
comprehensive school mental health, social and emotional learning
and trauma sensitive schools. This free resource includes goal
setting, program alignment and coherence and comprehensive
planning supports.
● WDPI, in partnership with a community mental health agency,
provides free training and technical assistance to school districts in
implementing the Compassion Resilience Toolkit. The
Compassion Resilience Toolkit is free and publicly accessible.
The goal of the toolkit is to provide opportunities for educators to
develop individual resilience skills, while also building healthy and
compassionate school and district cultures. The toolkit supports
school leaders in identifying and eliminating systems drivers of
burnout and compassion fatigue.
● The DPI state school nurse consultant is providing
recommendations to the state Department of Health Services on
the use of Public Health Work Force Funding to establish, expand,
train and sustain school health services personnel. The state school
nurse consultant pulls data from SEA sources on the number of
school nurse FTEs and the number of districts without a school
nurse. The state school nurse consultant regularly polls school
nurses on professional development needs.
These programs will enable LEAs to better support students’ academic, social, emotional, and
mental health needs.
iii. Describe the actions the SEA will take to fill anticipated gaps in
certified teachers for the start of the 2021-2022 school year and to
what extent the SEA will further support its LEAs in expanding the
educator pipeline and educator diversity while addressing the
immediate needs of students disproportionately impacted by the
pandemic (e.g., recruiting teaching candidates to provide high-
dosage tutoring or implementing residencies for teacher candidates).
Wisconsin continues to work with educator preparation programs to address the supply of
certified teachers. This includes work with post-baccalaureate programs leading to licensure to
47
bring in additional teachers as career changers. Post-baccalaureate programs are currently
available through a number of regional cooperative educational service agencies and the state’s
largest school district, Milwaukee Public Schools, has recently received initial approval to be a
program provider.
The state works with individual school districts to address unique staffing challenges and
advises on licensure pathways available to applicants under state law and administrative rule.
Some pathways were specifically built to address shortage needs such as the one-year license
with stipulations that allows candidates with a bachelor’s degree to teach while working on
completing a teacher preparation program and with the support of the employing school district.
2. Staffing to Support Student Needs: Describe the extent to which the SEA has
developed or will develop strategies and will support its LEAs in increasing
student access to key support staff within school buildings, including school
counselors, special education personnel, nurses, social workers, and psychologists
(e.g. hiring additional personnel or freeing up these staff to focus on providing
services to students).
A recently signed budget provision will support LEAs in increasing student access to key
support staff. This provision provides an increase of $6 million in each year of the biennium for
school mental health categorical aid for social workers and increases funding for school-based
mental health collaboration grants by $3.5 million in each year of the biennium.
The WDPI provided professional learning and support, as well as technical assistance for
key support staff staff during the 2020-2021 school year and will continue these efforts in 2021-
2022 in order to increase their efficiency and effectiveness in meeting the needs of students.
Efforts include hosting Community of Practice calls; consultation by Education Consultants;
resources on comprehensive school mental health, SEL, and compassion resilience; trauma
sensitive schools online modules; ethics and boundaries, child abuse and neglect, working with
students in out-of-home care, suicide prevention gatekeeper training; and partnerships with the
Wisconsin Safe and Healthy Schools (WISH) Center, Cooperative Educational Service Agencies
(CESA), the RtI Center, and state/national professional associations for training and resource
opportunities. Technical assistance and support to districts in utilizing federal funding sources to
increase student access to key support staff will be available from WDPI. WDPI provides
technical assistance for state and federal grant opportunities for LEAs that support increasing key
support staff and or improving their effectiveness, including Project AWARE, School-Based
Mental Health Services Grant, and School Based Mental Health Professionals Grant. Feedback
from ARPA stakeholder focus groups has provided direction for the continued support,
resources, and technical assistance from WDPI. Planning for the 2021-2022 school year includes
orientation and regularly scheduled networking opportunities to professionals in school social
work, school counseling and school nursing, a Mental Health Academy, a Comprehensive
School Mental Health Framework, and ongoing collaboration to increase and improve resources
and support to the field.
G. Monitoring and Measuring Progress
The Department recognizes that transparency on how ARP ESSER funds are used and their
impact on the Nation’s education system is a fundamental responsibility of Federal, State,
48
and local government. In this section, SEAs will describe how they are building capacity at
the SEA and LEA levels to ensure high-quality data collection and reporting and to safeguard
funds for their intended purposes.
1. Capacity for Data Collection and Reporting: It is important for an SEA to
continuously monitor progress and make adjustments to its strategies, as well as
to support its LEAs in making adjustments to LEA strategies, based on impact.
Describe how the SEA will ensure its capacity and the capacity of its LEAs to
collect data on reporting requirements, including but not limited to the examples
of reporting requirements described in the SEA’s Grant Award Notification (listed
in Appendix B). Describe the SEA’s capacity and strategy to collect data from its
LEAs (disaggregated by student group, where applicable), to the greatest extent
practicable, including any steps the SEA will take to build its capacity in the
future (which may include the use of ARP ESSER and other Federal COVID-19
pandemic funds at the SEA and LEA levels), on issues that may include the
following:
i. Student learning, including the academic impact of lost instructional
time during the COVID-19 pandemic;
The WDPI’s strategy to collect data from LEAs on student learning, including the
academic impact of lost instructional time during the COVID-19 pandemic, is to begin by
reviewing and analyzing data the SEA has available in the state longitudinal data system. The
Wisconsin Information System for Education (WISE) consists of multiple tools that support
person ID generation and data collection to meet all required district and school state and federal
reporting mandates. WISEdata is one of the tools in the WISE suite. It is a multi-vendor, open
data collection system that allows school districts, charter schools, and private schools
participating in a parental Choice program to submit high quality data to the Wisconsin
Department of Public Instruction (WDPI) from the student information system (SIS) vendor of
the educational agency’s choice. State and federally-required data is automatically pushed from
student information systems to the SEA. Agencies across the state also have the ability to send
optionally required data to WISEdata in order to automate data transfer to other educational tools
and software that they use to provide instruction to their students. Examples include academic
and career planning tools, retrieving immunization status from the state health department, and
integrating class roster information into third party tools. WISEdash provides multi-year
education data about Wisconsin schools in a visually appealing reporting tool. The WISEdash
Public Portal is used by districts, schools, parents, researchers, media, and other community
members to view data published by DPI. WISEdash for Districts is a secure reporting tool that is
used by districts and schools to view their own data submitted via WISEdata for data quality,
continuous improvement planning and early warning systems. The data and dashboards provided
through WISEdash help all stakeholders better understand education outcomes for Wisconsin
students, inform decisions that can help ensure every child has access to the programs and
supports they need, and meet federal, state and local reporting requirements. The data available
in WISEdash includes data submitted from school districts via WISEdata on student
demographics, programs and outcomes as well as additional data sources from assessment
vendors (local by district opt in and statewide), student growth, FAFSA completion, and
postsecondary.
49
The SEA will review relevant student data from the WISEdata system, including student
demographics, attendance, chronic absenteeism, and achievement data in order to identify groups
most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. WDPI is currently processing the 2020-21 statewide
assessments that were administered so school districts can use this information to address the
impact of lost instructional time during the pandemic. This information will first be loaded to
WISEdash for Districts where LEAs can securely access the data for their students and plan for
the 2021-22 school year with the data. Later in the fall, WDPI will publish the data to its
WISEdash Public Portal dashboard where any stakeholder can further review the data to analyze
lost instructional time impacts. In addition, WDPI recently created dedicated visuals to show
assessment participation so that the 2020-21 assessment results can be analyzed in context.
LEAs will complete their application and proposed use of ESSER III allocations in the
state’s federal grant management system, WISEgrants. Within this application, LEAs will be
required to identify the EBIS they are implementing with ESSER III funds, and they will need to
connect their budget items to their selected EBIS. The SEA will engage in targeted monitoring of
LEAs to determine the outcomes achieved with ESSER III dollars. The SEA will leverage an
existing support structure, the Technical Assistance Network for Improvement made up of
regional service providers, to engage in more extensive monitoring of federally identified
schools. Regional staff within the TA Network provide technical assistance to federally
identified schools/districts for their continuous improvement efforts, including the selection and
implementation of evidence-based improvement strategies intended to improve student
outcomes, with acceleration for students of color and students with IEPs. TA Network teams’
focus on coaching needs assessments with root cause analysis, along with auditing resource
inequities and supporting continuous improvement plan development for their districts/schools
ensures strategic opportunities to address COVID impacts, including learning loss, equitable
access, mental health issues, and other concerns that arose during the pandemic through in-
person, virtual, and hybrid formats.
Given the time frame for spending ESSER III funds and what is known about the length
of time needed to achieve full implementation and results of evidence-based improvement
strategies, WDPI believes that the information we will ultimately collect will be outcome data on
initial implementation of EBIS.
Collecting data on EBIS by student groups (per the proposed Federal requirement) is not
feasible for the WDPI. It would require LEAs to identify EBIS implemented with specific groups
of students at the classroom level as opposed to identifying the EBIS being implemented at the
school or district level. Such a data collection would be time consuming both for LEAs and the
SEA. Attempting to extrapolate EBIS data from the school level to specific student populations
will create data quality issues. The WDPI does not have a system set up to enable this type of
data collection.
ii. Opportunity to learn measures (e.g., chronic absenteeism; student
engagement; use of exclusionary discipline; access to and
participation in advanced coursework; access to technology,
including educator access to professional development on the
effective use of technology; access to high-quality educators; access
to school counselors, social workers, nurses, and school
psychologists; and results from student, parent, and/or educator
surveys);
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WISEdash reports on many of the opportunity to learn measures that are
important for monitoring and measuring progress. Among these are several early warning
systems, including Dropout Early Warning System (DEWS), College and Career
Readiness Early Warning System (CCREWS), and Absenteeism Early Warning. The
Dropout Early Warning System predicts which students in the middle grades (6-9) are at
risk of dropping out based on low attendance and achievement rates, high expulsion and
suspension rates along with high mobility rates, including the rating of risk (high,
medium or low). The College and Career Readiness Early Warning System looks at
several predictions for students in middle grades (6-9) including whether they will meet
the college readiness benchmark in ACT subjects, their predicted composite score and
whether they will enroll in a four-year college degree program in the first fall after high
school. The Absenteeism Early Warning system predicts whether the student is at risk for
chronic absenteeism. Absences from the entire school year are used to determine risk
levels regardless of the student’s current school of enrollment.
WISEdash reports on exclusionary discipline in multiple ways. Districts can view
their discipline data both by incidents that occured, including how many students had 3 or
more and by the behavior that caused the incident, as well as viewing the data by removal
type or disciplinary action. Roster course data including advanced AP and IB coursework
began to be collected in WISEdata in the 2018-19 school year. Districts can review this
data in WISEdash to further analyze which students have taken those courses and which
student groups they are in. In addition, results of AP exams can also be viewed in
WISEdash. WDPI rolled out an optional data collection for Digital Equity during the start
of the 2020-21 school year in order to address the gap in access to broadband services
and devices to access educational content served via broadband. A public dashboard
showing statewide data and a map displaying this data were developed to highlight the
gaps. 311 districts were reporting data as of the end of July. Data on access to high
quality educators can be found via the ESSA tab in the WISEdash Public Portal, which
links to a specific page on the Inequitable Distribution of Teachers. Districts are provided
with their list of new and out of field teachers annually so they can plan and improve how
students are served. This data can also be explored on the WDPI Public Staff Reporting
site. Data on access to school counselors, social workers, nurses and school
psychologists can also be viewed via the WDPI Public Staff Reporting site via the All
Staff report by Assignment Position.
iii. Fiscal data that is comparable across the State (e.g., per-pupil
expenditures at the LEA and school levels);
WDPI developed and instituted the collection and public release of per-pupil
expenditures by school, disaggregated between Federal and state & local funds, as required by
the Every Student Succeeds Act, beginning with the 2018-19 school year. WDPI has also
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developed and is rolling out for the 2021-22 school year a next generation school finance
reporting system that includes the collection of school-level expenditures by function, which will
allow Wisconsin to participate in the NCES SLFS survey from 2021-22 onward. The WDPI
would need to hire additional staff to support and monitor LEAs to ensure they can meet fiscal
requirements such as maintenance of equity.
iv. Jobs created and retained (by position type);
The WDPI has the capacity to report jobs created and retained as required by the CARES
Act and can institute the same procedures as those for jobs created and retained for CRRSAA
and for ARPA without much burden on either LEAs of the SEA. The WDPI can easily update
our tools and resources used for CARES Act reporting and support LEAs with this process.
However, the addition to report jobs created and retained by position type across the LEA
is a new requirement, not required in the ARP Act, itself, and could be a major undertaking both
by the SEA and LEAs.
v. Participation in programs funded by ARP ESSER resources (e.g.,
summer and afterschool programs); and
vi. Other reporting requirements reasonably required by the Secretary
(please refer to Appendix B of this template; final requirements will
be issued separately).
The WDPI will use existing systems to the greatest extent practicable to meet the other
reporting requirements required by USDE. For example, the SEA system currently in place to
meet FFATA requirements will easily incorporate ARP ESSER III funds. WDPI’s CARES Act
reporting system can also be adapted to accommodate some of the additions.
However, it is important to note that some of the proposed requirements will take
extensive time from both the SEA and LEAs. Some of the requirements would require WDPI to
revamp current systems or completely build new ones. This also means that WDPI will need to
have staff dedicated to creating technical assistance and assist LEAs with all of the proposed
requirements. With limited ARP ESSER III administrative funds and the need to hire additional
project staff to support review, approval, and technical assistance for ESSER III grant
applications, these proposed requirements may be unduly burdensome and not achievable.
2. Monitoring and Internal Controls: Describe how the SEA will implement
appropriate fiscal monitoring of and internal controls for the ARP ESSER funds
(e.g., by updating the SEA’s plan for monitoring funds and internal controls under
the CARES and CRRSA Acts; addressing potential sources of waste, fraud, and
abuse; conducting random audits; or other tools). In this response, please describe
the SEA’s current capacity to monitor ARP ESSER; steps, if needed, to increase
capacity; and any foreseeable gaps in capacity, including how the SEA will
provide its LEAs with technical assistance in the anticipated areas of greatest
need.
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The WDPI’s monitoring process begins with technical assistance. Helping LEAs
understand what the laws, regulations, and rules are upfront prevents unallowed costs and audit
findings later in time. The WDPI will provide technical assistance and support regarding all ARP
ESSER requirements, allowed activities, and reporting requirements along with the application,
budget, and claiming procedures.
The WDPI will also continue to follow its internal procedures for assessing each
subrecipient’s risk as required under 2 CFR 200.332(b). Additionally, WDPI will use its federal
grants management system, WISEgrants, to administer these funds to LEAs. WISEgrants is
developed and managed by dedicated WDPI staff, so the ability to distribute and monitor ESSER
funds is streamlined and executed in accordance with internal procedures for federal grant
programs. WISEgrants aligns with the 2 CFR 200 Federal Uniform Grant Guidance, the
Education Department’s General Administrative Regulations, General Education Provisions Act,
and Wisconsin’s Uniform Financial Accounting Requirements.
ARP ESSER subrecipients will be required to complete the following steps in
WISEgrants:
1. Digitally sign assurances that the LEA will comply with the provisions of all applicable
statutes and regulations, including an assurance about maintaining staff to the extent
practicable.
2. Provide information regarding their Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of
Services Plan (as described in section B).
3. Provide information regarding their ARP ESSER LEA Plan (as described in section E).
4. Provide a description of the steps the LEA proposes to take to ensure equitable access to,
and participation in, its Federally assisted program for students, teachers, and other
program beneficiaries who may experience any of these barriers: gender, race, national
origin, color, disability, and age as required under GEPA Section 427;
5. Develop separate budgets, under a single grant, for costs supporting regular education,
special education and food services and community services; and
6. Connect each detailed budget item to an ESSER allowed activity.
Once applications are submitted, WDPI will review applications to ensure costs and
activities are reasonable, necessary and allocable to ARP ESSER. WDPI will assist LEAs with
any revisions that need to be made.
After applications are approved, LEAs may submit claims for reimbursement on all funds
liquidated. LEAs claim funds by budget type: regular education, special education, food service,
and community services and by allowable ESSER activity.
Each year, WDPI works with independent audit firms to ensure they understand the
federal laws, rules, and regulations and works with the LEAs to resolve any single audit finding
identified by the firm(s) as required by 2 CFR 200.332(d)(4).
WDPI currently has two grant specialists solely dedicated to CARES Act and CRRSAA
grant programs. They provide technical assistance, review applications and budgets, monitor
LEA compliance, and collect the data required for reporting. The WDPI also uses some of its
administrative funds to support an accountant’s time to review and pay claims as well as a
supervisor’s time to support this work. WDPI will need to hire at least one more staff person to
support the fiscal monitoring and technical assistance requirements necessary for this grant
program.
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54
Appendix A: School Operating Status and Instructional Mode Data Template
Indicate the date or time period represented by the following data.
The WDPI has not been required to collect student level data for all public schools on
mode of instruction before now (limited, specific data was collected for P-EBT and legislative
reporting purposes). The WDPI understands the importance of having instructional mode
(learning modality) data for Wisconsin’s students and schools moving forward. We are currently
planning to implement this new data collection through WISEdata via the Ed-Fi API in a future
school year, most likely either the 2022-23 or 2023-24 school years. These reporting
requirements will be reviewed and taken into consideration when reviewing and deciding on the
final solution for data collection. Implementing the new data collection with fidelity, including
clear definitions and use cases, will take time to propose and come to consensus within the
Wisconsin education community.
When we integrate the collection into WISEdata, it will be implemented alongside the
student group data that is already collected today. In addition, the WISEdash data dashboard has
functionality where districts can identify groups of students based on criteria the district
determines so that they can then review data just for those students as they move through the
dashboards. Examples of data topics available include Enrollment, Attendance, and Assessment
data amongst many others. When instructional mode data is added to the dashboards, the data
will be available to review for those students and schools as well. This existing functionality will
be able to be utilized so that LEAs can review the students who were disproportionately
impacted by the pandemic.
In terms of the technical solution, Ed-Fi is proposing three different methods of
collection:
1. Program-Calendar method which collects specific scheduled cohorts and their
learning modality and length of time in that modality per day (useful if districts
have to split their school into half of the students being on campus part of the
week and the other half being on campus another part of the week). This is the
most granular method of collection.
2. Program-Aggregate method is similar to Program-Calendar except that the detail
regarding which day a hybrid cohort is remote, or campus is lost. Instead, a
percentage of time or time per week is collected to represent how much time the
cohort was in the specific mode of learning.
3. Attendance Method is the third proposed option. It requires the collection of
positive attendance, which many Wisconsin LEAs do not currently collect. In
addition, it requires the collection of daily attendance. Many LEAs collect daily
attendance, but daily attendance is not currently submitted to WDPI today. WDPI
may begin doing so in relation to modernizing the collection of finance related
student data.
Each of these methods of collection will need to be evaluated in terms of how they fit
into the needs of the WDPI uses of the data, how seamless it is for LEAs to collect and enter the
data, and how much effort is required for student information system (SIS) vendors to both make
changes to collect the data and to make changes to submit the data to WISEdata via the Ed-Fi
API.
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Once the data is collected, the WDPI will also sync it nightly with WISEdash and present
the data back to districts in a secure manner in WISEdash for districts. As required by ARP, we
will also publicly report the information in the WISEdash Public Portal.
Table 1
In the most recent time period available, how many schools in your State offered each mode of
instruction or learning model described below? Each row should account for all schools in your
State, so that, for each row, the sum of the numbers in the “offered to all students,” “offered to
some students,” and “not offered” columns is equal to the number in the “all schools” column.
Add or change rows as needed
Number of All schools Offered to all Offered to Not offered
schools students some
students
Remote or # # # #
online only
School # # # #
buildings
open with
both
remote/online
and in-person
instruction
(hybrid)
School # # # #
buildings
open with
full-time in-
person
instruction
To the extent data are available, please complete the above table for 1) all schools in the State,
and 2) separately for each instructional level (e.g., pre-kindergarten/elementary schools, middle
schools, high schools).
56
Table 2
In the most recent time period available, what was the enrollment and mode of instruction for the
schools in your State?
Add or change rows as needed
Number of Total Remote or Both Full-time in-
students enrollment online only remote/onlin person
e and in- instruction
person
instruction
(hybrid)
Students from # # # #
low-income
families
White, not # # # #
Hispanic
Black or # # # #
African
American, not
Hispanic
Hispanic, of # # # #
any race
Asian, not # # # #
Hispanic
American # # # #
Indian or
Alaskan
Native, not
Hispanic
Native # # # #
Hawaiian or
Pacific
Islander, not
Hispanic
57
Two or more # # # #
races, not
Hispanic
Race/Ethnicit # # # #
y information
not available
English # # # #
learners
Children with # # # #
disabilities
Students # # # #
experiencing
homelessness
Children and # # # #
youth in
foster care
Migratory # # # #
students
Appendix B: Reporting Language Included in the Grant Award Notification (“GAN”)
As described in the Grant Award Notification (“GAN”), the SEA will comply with, and ensure
that its LEAs comply with, all reporting requirements at such time and in such manner and
containing such information as the Secretary may reasonably require, including on matters such
as:
● How the State is developing strategies and implementing public health protocols
including, to the greatest extent practicable, policies and plans in line with the CDC
guidance related to mitigating COVID-19 in schools;
● Overall plans and policies related to State support for return to in-person instruction and
maximizing in-person instruction time, including how funds will support a return to and
maximize in-person instruction time, and advance equity and inclusivity in participation
in in-person instruction;
● Data on each school’s mode of instruction (fully in-person, hybrid, and fully remote) and
conditions;
● SEA and LEA uses of funds to meet students’ social, emotional, and academic needs,
including through summer enrichment programming and other evidence-based
interventions, and how they advance equity for underserved students;
58
● SEA and LEA uses of funds to sustain and support access to early childhood education
programs;
● Impacts and outcomes (disaggregated by student subgroup) through use of ARP ESSER
funding (e.g., quantitative and qualitative results of ARP ESSER funding, including on
personnel, student learning, and budgeting at the school and district level);
● Student data (disaggregated by student subgroup) related to how the COVID-19
pandemic has affected instruction and learning;
● Requirements under the Federal Financial Accountability Transparency Act (“FFATA”);
and
● Additional reporting requirements as may be necessary to ensure accountability and
transparency of ARP ESSER funds.
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Appendix C: Assurances
By signing this document, the SEA assures all of the following:
● The SEA will conduct all its operations so that no person shall be excluded from
participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subject to discrimination under the ARP
ESSER program or activity based on race, color, national origin, which includes a
person’s limited English proficiency or English learner status and a person’s actual or
perceived shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics; sex; age; or disability. These non-
discrimination obligations arise under Federal civil rights laws, including but not limited
to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of
1972, section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Age Discrimination Act of
1975. In addition, the SEA must comply with all regulations, guidelines, and standards
issued by the Department under any of these statutes;
● The SEA will comply with all ARP Act and other ARP ESSER requirements and all
requirements of its Grant Award Notification, including but not limited to:
o Complying with the maintenance of effort provision in section 2004(a)(1) of the
ARP Act, absent a waiver by the Secretary pursuant to section 2004(a)(2) of the
ARP Act; and
o Complying with the maintenance of equity provisions in section 2004(b) of the
ARP Act, and ensuring its LEAs comply with the maintenance of equity provision
in section 2004(c) of the ARP Act (please note that the Department will provide
additional guidance on maintenance of equity shortly);
● The SEA will allocate ARP ESSER funds to LEAs in an expedited and timely manner
and, to the extent practicable, not later than 60 days after the SEA receives ARP ESSER
funds (i.e., 60 days from the date the SEA receives each portion of its ARP ESSER
funds). An SEA that is not able to allocate such funds within 60 days because it is not
practicable (e.g., because of pre-existing State board approval requirements) will provide
an explanation to the Department within 30 days of receiving each portion of its ARP
ESSER funds (submitted via email to your Program Officer at [State].OESE@ed.gov
(e.g., Alabama.OESE@ed.gov)), including a description of specific actions the SEA is
taking to provide ARP ESSER funds to LEAs in an expedited and timely manner and the
SEA’s expected timeline for doing so;
● The SEA will implement evidence-based interventions as required under section 2001(f)
of the ARP Act and ensure its LEAs implement evidence-based interventions, as required
by section 2001(e)(1) of the ARP Act;
● The SEA will address the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on
underserved students (i.e., students from low-income families, students from racial or
ethnic groups (e.g., identifying disparities and focusing on underserved student groups by
race or ethnicity), gender (e.g., identifying disparities and focusing on underserved
student groups by gender), English learners, children with disabilities, students
experiencing homelessness, children and youth in foster care, and migratory students), as
required under section 2001(f) of the ARP Act, and ensure its LEAs address the
disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on underserved students (i.e.,
students from low-income families, students from racial or ethnic groups, gender, English
learners, children with disabilities, students experiencing homelessness, children and
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youth in foster care, and migratory students), as required by section 2001(e)(1) of the
ARP Act; and
● The SEA will provide to the Department: (1) the URL(s) where the public can readily
find data on school operating status and (2) the URL(s) for the SEA and/or LEA websites
where the public can find the LEA plans for a) the safe return to in-person instruction and
continuity of services required under section 2001(i) of the ARP Act, and b) use of ARP
ESSER funds. SEAs should consider ensuring a standardized URL format in all cases
(e.g., xxx.gov/COVIDplan).
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Appendix D
OMB Control No. 1894-0005 (Exp. 06/30/2023)
NOTICE TO ALL APPLICANTS
The purpose of this enclosure is to inform you access to, and participation in, its Federally-
about a new provision in the Department of assisted program for students, teachers, and
Educations General Education Provisions other program beneficiaries with special
Act ("GEPA") that applies to applicants for needs. This provision allows applicants
new grant awards under Department discretion in developing the required
programs. This provision is Section 427 of description. The statute highlights six types
GEPA, enacted as part of the Improving of barriers that can impede equitable access
America's Schools Act of 1994 (Public Law or participation: gender, race, national origin,
(P.L.) 103-382). color, disability, or age. Based on local
circumstances, you should determine
To Whom Does This Provision Apply? whether these or other barriers may prevent
your students, teachers, etc. from such access
Section 427 of GEPA affects applicants for
to, or participation in, the Federally-funded
new grant awards under this program. ALL
project or activity. The description in your
APPLICANTS FOR NEW AWARDS
application of steps to be taken to overcome
MUST INCLUDE INFORMATION IN
these barriers need not be lengthy; you may
THEIR APPLICATIONS TO ADDRESS
provide a clear and succinct description of
THIS NEW PROVISION IN ORDER TO
how you plan to address those barriers that
RECEIVE FUNDING UNDER THIS
are applicable to your circumstances. In
PROGRAM.
addition, the information may be provided in
(If this program is a State-formula grant a single narrative, or, if appropriate, may be
program, a State needs to provide this discussed in connection with related topics in
description only for projects or activities that the application.
it carries out with funds reserved for State-
Section 427 is not intended to duplicate the
level uses. In addition, local school districts
requirements of civil rights statutes, but
or other eligible applicants that apply to the
rather to ensure that, in designing their
State for funding need to provide this
projects, applicants for Federal funds address
description in their applications to the State
equity concerns that may affect the ability of
for funding. The State would be responsible
certain potential beneficiaries to fully
for ensuring that the school district or other
participate in the project and to achieve high
local entity has submitted a sufficient section
standards. Consistent with program
427 statement as described below.)
requirements and its approved application, an
What Does This Provision Require? applicant may use the Federal funds awarded
to it to eliminate barriers it identifies.
Section 427 requires each applicant for funds
(other than an individual person) to include in
its application a description of the steps the
applicant proposes to take to ensure equitable
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What are Examples of How an Applicant
Might Satisfy the Requirement of This
Provision?
The following examples may help illustrate
how an applicant may comply with Section
427.
(1) An applicant that proposes to carry
out an adult literacy project serving,
among others, adults with limited English
proficiency, might describe in its
application how it intends to distribute a
brochure about the proposed project to
such potential participants in their native
language.
(2) An applicant that proposes to develop
instructional materials for classroom use
might describe how it will make the
materials available on audio tape or in
braille for students who are blind.
(3) An applicant that proposes to carry
out a model science program for
secondary students and is concerned that
girls may be less likely than boys to enroll
in the course, might indicate how it
intends to conduct "outreach" efforts to
girls, to encourage their enrollment.
(4) An applicant that proposes a project to
increase school safety might describe the
special efforts it will take to address
concerns of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender students, and efforts to reach
out to and involve the families of LGBT
students.
We recognize that many applicants may
already be implementing effective steps to
ensure equity of access and participation in
their grant programs, and we appreciate your
cooperation in responding to the
requirements of this provision.
Click here to enter text.
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Estimated Burden Statement for GEPA Requirements
According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a
collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. Public
reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 3 hours per
response, including time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources,
gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of
information. The obligation to respond to this collection is required to obtain or retain
benefit (Public Law 103-382). Send comments regarding the burden estimate or any other
aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to the
U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20210-4537 or
email ICDocketMgr@ed.gov and reference the OMB Control Number 1894-0005.
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