New Hampshire State Plan Six-Month Update
Summary
The New Hampshire State Plan Six-Month Update to the American Rescue Plan Act Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund plan, published August 8, 2022 as submitted to the Department of Education. The cover lists Angela Adams as SEA contact and Frank Edelblut, Commissioner of Education, as the printed name, dated August 8, 2022. The update states that the plan was first submitted on June 7, 2021 and approved August 5, 2021, and that a 30-day update was provided on September 7, 2021. Section A names three strategies: a nimble, flexible and adaptable response, clear and transparent communication with stakeholders, and supportive, research-based guidance. It closes with a table of student enrollment by instruction mode and a Section 427 compliance statement.
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Cite this document
“New Hampshire State Plan Six-Month Update.”
Original at www.ed.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/department-of-education-pdf-www-ed-gov-5ea0bf7e94/
, SHA-256 be0510d82cd66b2e86a040b1ee3fad23c234e42efd3ad19ef72f49083f1c57c3.Full text
New Hampshire State Plan
Six-Month Update
American Rescue Plan Act
Elementary and Secondary School Emergency
Relief Fund
Published August 8, 2022
as Submitted to the U.S. Department of
Education
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Grantee and Contact Information
ARP ESSER PR Award Number (e.g., S425U2100XX): S425U210017
SEA Contact: Angela Adams
Telephone: 603-271-3144
Email address: Angela.M.Adams@doe.nh.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)
Frank Edelblut, Commissioner of Education
Signature of Authorized SEA Representative Date:
August 8,
2022
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Update:
On August 5, 2021, the U.S. Department of Education approved New Hampshire’s State Plan,
which was first submitted on June 7, 2021. In Secretary Miguel Cardona’s approval letter, he
stated, “In addition, New Hampshire must provide an update on its progress selecting evidence-
based interventions to meet these requirements within 30 days of receipt of this letter, and
additional updates as required by the Department.” New Hampshire published and provided that
30-day update to the U.S. Department of Education on September 7, 2021. In this approval letter,
Secretary Cardona also stated, “… this approval is conditioned on New Hampshire amending its
ARP ESSER State plan to provide the requisite descriptions to meet the requirements in section
D.1.i-iii, D.2.i-iii, and D.3.i-iii of the ARP ESSER State plan template.” This six-month update
was requested by the U.S. Department of Education and provides the necessary updates in
section D.1.i-iii, D.2.i-iii, and D.3.i-iii of the New Hampshire State Plan, as well as other
relevant updates not requested by the U.S. Department of Education.
Introduction:
The New Hampshire Department of Education welcomes the opportunity to develop, update, and
present its plan for the use of the American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School
Emergency Relief (ARP ESSER) funds. We are grateful for the many stakeholders from a wide
array of backgrounds who took valuable time to weigh in with support and advice about how we
can best help our families, students, and educators.
The extraordinary level of financial support that states have received to respond to and recover
from COVID-19 creates a real opportunity to make a meaningful difference in the lives of
students across New Hampshire. As well, this extraordinary funding also creates what some have
described as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to allow the education system across the country to
address and, hopefully, correct systemic disparity that has persisted in education for decades. We
know that certain students have been disproportionately impacted by this pandemic and we are
not willing to let any student fall behind.
New Hampshire has a deep and proud history of local control in education and this approach has
served the state well. Local control has put important decision-making close to the needs on the
ground. It has allowed New Hampshire education systems to be more resilient and responsive.
This is part of the reason why, in September of 2020, over 40% of New Hampshire schools were
able to open with 5-days of in-person instruction while another 55% of schools were offering
between 2-4 days of in-person instruction for students through hybrid models. Only a handful of
schools were unable to open for in-person instruction.
While this success is primarily attributable to hard-working local school leaders and educators, it
also reflects the resources and guidance that were made available to schools. These resources
were made possible through a whole-of-government response to the pandemic. In New
Hampshire, state agencies work together toward a common goal, and throughout the pandemic,
the Office of the Governor, the Department of Education (referred to the SEA henceforth), the
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Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and the Department of Safety’s Division of
Homeland Security and Emergency Management did just that. Beginning with cross-agency
conference calls each morning for over a year to collaboratively develop guidance and web-
resources, multiple agencies worked to support the needs of local school leaders, so they could
safely operate their schools.
At the time of submission of this updated plan, every student in New Hampshire continues to
have access to full-time, in-person instruction. Barring some unforeseeable development, this
will remain true through the end of the 2022-2023 school year and beyond. Our goal remains
positioning our SEA, schools, and educators to effectively meet students where they are on
their individual learning pathways.
As was the intent of the federal legislation authorizing these funds, we view recovery as a multi-
year process in which we are shifting our efforts from immediate relief to long-term reform. We
have carefully and deliberately considered what can be done right away, and what is better left to
be implemented during the upcoming school year and beyond. We commit to continuously
engaging stakeholders and to being as transparent as possible by posting all relevant materials
online. Throughout this document and consistent with our theory of change for education in New
Hampshire, we demonstrate our unwavering commitment to individualized learning for students
and empowering local school system leaders so they can, in turn, provide the most support for
students’ greatest needs, to engage meaningfully with parents and the public, and to address
learning loss through the use of proven, evidence-based practices.
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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 SEA’s Safer Schools and
Campuses Best Practices Clearinghouse so that they can be shared with other States and
LEAs.
SEA Response
The SEA views the top three strategies that have allowed the state to have an effective response
to COVID-19 as:
1. Nimble, flexible, and adaptable response that provided local education leaders broad
discretion to address local circumstances: Starting with the unprecedented shift to remote
instruction in March 2020, school leaders, educators, families, students and state leaders have
been flexible and responsive to changing circumstances on the ground. New Hampshire
never “closed” school nor gave up on teaching and learning. Instead, it expeditiously
transitioned to remote instruction and then to safe in-person instruction.
This is not to say that the New Hampshire response was without challenge. However, when
those challenging circumstances arose, every educator prioritized meeting students’ needs
and took carefully planned actions that allowed for the continuity of instruction and
minimized overall disruption. We could not be prouder of the strong and collaborative
approach exemplified throughout the pandemic.
Another example of flexibility is in the area of instructional models. Some schools began the
school year with a plan to support students remotely or with hybrid models, but quickly
discovered that the models they had designed were limited in their effectiveness and required
change. By being nimble, districts could pivot when necessary, which ultimately allowed
most districts to effectively serve all students. Where districts were unable to change nor
adapt quickly, families and students were not as well-supported.
2. Clear and transparent communication with stakeholders: A variety of new
communications channels were established as a result of the pandemic. These new channels
began even before the pandemic fully manifested, when the SEA had its first support call
with LEAs in early February 2020. These evolved into 3x-per week support calls among all
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school leaders (LEAs, non-public and private providers) as well as weekly updates by state
public health officials specific to the instructional environment. In addition, individual LEA
group specific calls, including public district, public charter, and non-public schools, were
held by the SEA to address needs specific to their school type. Several new web sites were
deployed, including some specifically for COVID-19 educational resources for schools,
students, and parents.
At times during the pandemic, there was pressure to mandate statewide policies. Throughout
the pandemic, the SEA and the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services
(DHHS) preferred to issue guidance that enabled each community to craft a response that
would meet the needs of their individual communities and avoided the use of “one-size-fits-
all” mandates. This reflected the fact that conditions varied significantly from one
community to another, from urban centers to rural communities.
Going forward, some of these additional communication channels have remained in place in
support of SEA/LEA communications, although on a less intensive schedule.
3. Supportive, research-based guidance and resources:
Through these channels of communication, both the SEA and DHHS published a number of
resources throughout the pandemic to communicate guidance and policies to LEAs. These
ranged from very narrowly crafted guidance to address very specific information to broad
resources for the schools to communicate with their communities about the process that
would take place when a COVID-19 event occurred in the instructional setting. As an
example, the SEA developed, in coordination with DHHS, very specific research-based
guidance about how to provide in-person services to students with disabilities in a safe
manner.
Specific technical resources were set up for LEAs as well as families, including an online
knowledge center through which individuals were able to post questions and receive answers.
This knowledge center was searchable so that anyone could review previous questions in
order to find answers. The Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management
(HSEM) was fully operationalized including use of its Joint Information Center (JIC) and
211 hotline to assist all New Hampshire residents in accessing necessary resources.
The SEA also plans to publish lessons learned and best practices, especially related to its
ReKINDling Curiosity: Every Kid Goes to Camp program and its Recovering Bright Futures
program to the Safer Schools and Campuses Best Practices Clearinghouse, which were first
implemented during the summer and fall 2021 respectively. The SEA also shared
information about the Safer Schools and Campuses Best Practices Clearinghouse and
encouraged LEA submission of lessons learned and best practices in the areas of safely
reopening, student support, and educator support on a webinar disseminating New
Hampshire’s ARP ESSER State Plan and on monthly calls with all district superintendents.
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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.
SEA Response
The SEA views the top three issues currently facing students and schools as:
1. Individualized Instruction to Recover Any Learning Loss
As a result of the pandemic and indications from assessment data (see discussion below for
assessment during the pandemic), the SEA anticipates that the student performance curve across
the state will look different this year. Participation rates dropped significantly and the gap
between high and low performing students tended to widen. The impact to math scores was
noticeably larger than for ELA scores. While New Hampshire assessment results were some of
the smallest decreases we have seen nationally, students still experienced some learning loss.
Some students thrived in pandemic learning, either through strong home supports or the exercise
of greater individual agency that allowed them to flourish. Alternatively, more students had
difficulty accessing their education, either because of lack of appropriate resources or an
instructional model that was not conducive to their learning style, among other reasons. Given
these dynamics, it will be important for all students to be engaged based on where they are on
their learning curve, whether accelerated or having fallen behind, in a way that challenges them,
is not stigmatizing, and allows them to be successful.
Individualized instruction will also be a challenge facing our schools. Educators returning to the
classroom will need new tools and instructional approaches that enable them to be effective with
a broader range of students and a system flexible enough to allow teachers room to help students
succeed. This issue will provide fertile ground for investment of relief funds.
2. Educator Fatigue
Many of our educators in New Hampshire were compelled by the pandemic to work in
instructional models for which they had not been trained. Before the pandemic, educator
preparation and professional development focused on full time, in-person instruction. While
most of our educators performed admirably in the new instructional model, it added to stress and
anxiety levels for educators across the state. This may have affected their perspective and
performance upon return to the classroom, which we continue to address with additional skill
preparation and support. We utilized our critical shortage survey results in October 2021, which
found consistent shortages among various administrator, educational specialist, instructional
specialist, and teacher licenses. Notably, Early Childhood Education (N-3) was removed from
the Critical Shortage List as of 10/5/2020. We will continue to utilize the critical shortage survey
results, including those that will be collected in October 2022 and beyond, to evaluate if higher
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than normal levels of retirement and attrition exist. This will inform strategies to support
recruitment to and retention in our teacher workforce.
3. Family Engagement
The third area of focus for the SEA will be around family engagement. Even before the
pandemic, family engagement played an important role in student success. During the pandemic,
one of the bright spots was increased family engagement in student learning. One example of this
is a family survey that was conducted in May and June of 2020. More than 56,000 parents and
educators responded, which far exceeded any previous record of response. This survey was given
again in June 2021 and more than 19,000 parents, educators, and community members
responded, representing 80% of those districts receiving ARP ESSER funds. Despite a
significant decline in participation, we received invaluable feedback into the strengths and needs
of the state and local education systems. The heightened levels of engagement of families is an
opportunity that we want to sustain for the benefit of students.
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:
a. Students from low-income families,
b. Students from each racial or ethnic group (e.g., identifying
disparities and focusing on underserved student groups by race or
ethnicity),
c. Gender (e.g., identifying disparities and focusing on underserved
student groups by gender),
d. English learners,
e. Children with disabilities (including infants, toddlers, children, and
youth with disabilities eligible under the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (“IDEA”)),
f. Students experiencing homelessness,
g. Children and youth in foster care,
h. Migratory students, and
i. Other groups disproportionately impacted by the pandemic that have
j. 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, chronic
absenteeism, student engagement, and social-emotional well-being.
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SEA Response
Given the pandemic’s disproportionate effects on students from low-income families, ESL
students, students with disabilities, and racial and ethnic minority students, we recognize the
need to help those students who are most at risk of falling behind. In addition, even before the
pandemic, we recognized disparities in performance and across other indicators between student
subgroups. Our strategy for providing support to students in the wake of the pandemic is
consistent with our broader theory of change for education in New Hampshire: providing
individualized support to all students by empowering local school leaders with the resources and
tools they need and holding ourselves accountable to the progress of students. This is consistent
with the approach described in our ESSA state plan, last updated in 2019, that focused on
underperforming student subgroups by introducing a specific indicator to our statewide
accountability to ensure schools successfully supported those students with the greatest need.
Looking ahead, we foresee comparable needs across the array of student subgroups listed in
Table A1 below. Please note that many students belong to more than one subgroup listed, which
further amalgamates need. Because the level of need is comparable, and because the groups are
not exclusive, and given our theory that local leaders are best equipped to solve local educational
problems, we do not intend to require specific interventions be matched to specific gender, racial,
ethnic, or family income subgroups. Rather, the SEA expects to invest in holistic interventions
and programs that are accessible for all students (with a priority given to high-needs students,
like those described in the groups below) to ensure no one is left behind.
In June 2021, our assessment of the top needs for children in the state included individualized
instruction, access to technology, and out-of-school learning opportunities, such as summer
enrichment camps. These priorities were further developed through stakeholder consultation and
individual LEA responses to a data collection based on the U.S. Department of Education’s State
Plan template received on or before June 1, 2021. Based on ongoing consultation over the past
six months, parent feedback has been focused on learning loss recovery interventions and
supports, including special education services and supports, their individual child may need.
In the June 2021 special data collection to inform the initial State Plan, LEA narratives reported
increased absenteeism and learning loss during remote learning and hybrid learning periods
compared to pre-pandemic in-person learning but did not provide information specific to student
groups. Specifically, LEAs reported the greatest increase in learning loss was in mathematics for
students across all student demographics. As described in Section A(4) of this plan, the SEA
collected data on the impact of lost instructional time by student group, as well as student
engagement and social-emotional well-being data through the 603 Bright Futures Survey, a new
statewide school climate survey. Results show that Asian or Pacific Islander students and those
in grades Pre-K through grade 4 had significantly more positive responses, including up to 18%
above the state average, whereas American Indian or Alaskan Native students, those that did not
prefer to identify their gender, and those students represented by an education surrogate had
significantly less favorable responses, including up to 23% below the state average. There was
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also a large disparity between younger (Pre-K to 4th) and higher (8th to 12th) grades regarding
SEL & Well-Being and School Climate, including up to 17% above and 17% below the state
average among participants representing 1st graders and 10th graders, respectively. In general,
survey participants had favorable responses regarding Barriers to Engagement (86%), Family
Engagement regarding Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) (82%), and School Safety (81%),
and less favorable responses regarding Family Engagement (general) (31%) and Learning Model
(43%).
The SEA also collected chronic absenteeism rates in its school year 2020-2021 EOY data
collection, finding the average attendance rate across all NH public schools, including charters,
was 93%. There was no apparent trend in which schools have higher attendance rates, other than
charter schools had a slightly lower attendance rate. The average attendance rate across all NH
public schools, excluding charters, was 94%; the average amongst just charter schools was 87%.
Of the 165 public school districts, including public academies and joint maintenance agreements,
153, or 93%, had an attendance rate over 90%, and only one district had an attendance rate less
than 80% (Profile, 66.7%). Amongst the 28 charter schools, only 20 schools (or 71%) had an
attendance rate over 90%, and five schools (or 18%) had an attendance rate less than 80%, two
of which had an attendance rate less than 50% (PACE Career Academy Charter School, 46%;
CSI Charter School, 33%). Location nor population of the district appeared to play a significant
role in chronic absenteeism.
Table A1.
Student group Highest priority needs
Students from low-income families ● Intensive, high-dose tutoring, especially in
Math and ELA, provided by effective teachers
receiving supplemental stipends;
● Reinitiate and expand wraparound supports to
ensure students can access learning; and
● Individualized instruction and more dynamic
instructional models that build individual
agency.
Students from each racial or ethnic ● Based on the available data, the SEA considers
background used by the State for each racial and ethnic student subgroup in the
reporting purposes – please add a row state as having demonstrable need. The SEA
for each racial or ethnic group (e.g., intends to target its support based on available
identifying disparities and focusing performance data, including student assessment
on underserved student groups by data, and does not assign interventions by race
nor ethnicity, consistent with federal civil rights
race/ethnicity)
law. This also reflects NHED’s broader view
that students should be treated as individuals
and have their needs met accordingly, rather
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than seen as simply representatives of their
racial or ethnic group.
Racial/ethnic subgroups Supports
American Indian or We will target
Alaska Native interventions to meet
Asian or Pacific the needs of each
Islander individual student and
Hispanic student group with an
emphasis on core
Black
academic subjects,
White including English
Language Arts and
Multi-race Mathematics.
Students by gender – please add a ● Based on the available data, the SEA considers
row for each gender (e.g., identifying both genders in the state as having
disparities and focusing on demonstrable need. The SEA intends to target
underserved student groups by its support based on available performance data,
gender) including student assessment data, and does not
assign interventions by gender, consistent with
federal civil rights law. This also reflects
NHED’s broader view that students should be
treated as individuals and have their needs met
accordingly, rather than seen as simply
representatives of their gender group.
Gender subgroup Supports
Female We will target
interventions to meet
the needs of each
individual student and
student group with an
Male emphasis on core
academic subjects,
including English
Language Arts and
Mathematics.
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English learners ● Increased access to academic supports
throughout the recovery period, including
expanded in-school and after-school
programming;
● Professional development to support all NH
educators working with EL students to ensure
ELs can access grade-level academic content to
accelerate content and language learning; and
● Development of a comprehensive language
assistance plan to bridge barriers between home
and school and to support sustained culturally
responsive two-way communication that will
build a foundation for meaningful collaboration
with EL families.
Children with disabilities ● Continued recovery services following the
compensatory education services supported by
the SEA in spring 2021, including those
supporting students whose special education
referrals experienced pandemic-related delays;
● Professional development to personalize
instruction, including expansion of SEA’s UDL
training, to meet the unique needs of students
with disabilities, especially those arising from
the pandemic and creation of competency-
basedcourses to better prepare
paraprofessionals; and
● Promotion of parent/caregiver engagement and
parent/caregiver training.
Students experiencing homelessness ● Outreach and identification;
● Reengagement including through providing
nontraditional transportation supports especially
in rural communities; and
● Credit accrual and recovery.
Children and youth in foster care ● Technical assistance to LEAs and schools on
federal and state requirements for serving
children and youth in foster care and best
practices, including those responsive to the
pandemic;
● Given changes and potential changes in
personnel, updated LEA and school-based
foster care point of contacts, which will be
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newly published on the SEA website and
encouraged to be published on relevant LEA
and school websites; and
● Expand engagement with DHHS in
coordinating support of children and youth in
foster care, including through institutionalizing
data sharing.
Migratory students ● Identification and recruitment of migratory
students statewide given that recruiters could
not contact potential families in person during
the pandemic;
● Technology, especially to support supplemental
learning during the summer and continued
access to online learning platforms year-round;
and
● A transition back to home-based services and
supports, given the inability of migrant staff to
provide in-person instruction and support
during the pandemic.
Other groups of students identified Students in rural communities, existing mostly in
by the State (e.g., youth involved in Northern New Hampshire or “North country:”
the criminal justice system, students ● Higher quality remote instruction, especially
who have missed the most in-person through teacher professional development
instruction during the 2019-2020 and provided by the University System of New
2020-2021 school years, students Hampshire, Granite State College;
who did not consistently participate ● Technology, especially to support supplemental
in remote instruction when offered learning during the summer and
during school building closures, during the school year; and
LGBTQ+ students) ● Removed barriers to accessing career
development opportunities through inter-district
transportation supports.
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.
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SEA Response
The SEA is prepared to support LEAs in identifying the extent of the impact of the pandemic on
students’ learning and well-being, including identification of subgroups of students most
impacted, in several ways. As part of the process in which LEAs developed their own ARP
ESSER plans, LEAs were required to engage in stakeholder feedback with all required
stakeholder groups, which uncovered authentic need from a diverse array of sources as described
by the people experiencing it. Specifically, in its “LEA ARP ESSER Plan: ‘A Plan for the LEA's
Use of ARP ESSER funds’” template, NHED requested LEAs report:
How the LEA will identify individual student learning loss, including among students
most likely to have experienced the impact of lost instructional time on student learning,
such as:
a. Students who did not consistently participate in remote instruction when offered during
school building closures;
b. Students who have missed the most in-person instruction during the 2019-2020 and
2020-2021 school years; and
c. Students most at-risk of dropping out of school.
We also provided LEAs with access to formative/benchmarking assessments, data from the most
recent statewide assessments, and ongoing communications/technical assistance channels to help
foster communities of practice among LEA leaders.
Perhaps differently than some states, New Hampshire had available rich data regarding student
performance in school year 2020-2021 that it shared with LEAs. In spring 2021, New Hampshire
fully administered the summative assessments for English Language Arts, Mathematics and
Science for grades 3-8 and grade 11. In addition, the ELP assessment, ACCESS 2.0, was fully
administered in 2020 and 2021, allowing New Hampshire to derive academic impact data for
English language learners. New Hampshire also administered an interim summative assessment
in ELA and math in fall 2020.
New Hampshire used 2021 and historical assessment data to research the following questions:
● To what extent are 2021 assessment participation rates different from historical patterns?
● In math, participation dropped significantly in the spring of 2021 from about
91,050 in 2019 to about 73,406 in 2021.
● In reading, participation also dropped from about 90,785 in 2019 to about 72,880
in 2021.
● In science, which is administered in fewer grade levels, participation dropped
from about 37,720 in 2019 to 28,495 in 2021.
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● How different is the observed 2021 achievement status of New Hampshire students from
their historical status, in
o English language arts?
▪ Statewide, about 52 percent of students scored proficient or above
proficient in reading in 2021, compared to 56 percent in 2019.
● Proficiency for ELA at the third-grade level was 44 percent
in 2021, compared to 56 percent in 2016, 54 percent in
2017, 55 percent in 2018, and 52 percent in 2019.
● Proficiency for ELA at the eighth-grade level was 49
percent in 2021, compared to 62 percent in 2016, 58
percent in both 2017 and 2018, and 53 percent in 2019.
o Mathematics?
▪ Statewide, about 38 percent of students scored proficient or above
proficient in math in 2021, compared to 48 percent in 2019.
● Proficiency for math at the third-grade level was 45 percent
in 2021, compared to 57 percent in 2016, 55 percent in both
2017 and 2018, and 57 percent in 2019.
● Proficiency for math at the eighth-grade level was 33
percent in 2021, compared to 47 percent in 2016, 46
percent in 2017, 47 percent in 2018 and 45 percent in 2019.
o English language proficiency?
▪ Statewide, about 52 percent of students scored proficient or above
proficient in reading in 2021, compared to 56 percent in 2019.
o Science?
▪ Statewide, about 37 percent of students scored proficient or above
proficient in science in 2021, compared to 39 percent in 2019.
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(There were no spring assessment tests in spring 2020 because of
COVID-19.)
The impact to math scores was noticeably larger than for ELA scores. While New Hampshire
assessment results were some of the smallest decreases we have seen nationally, students still
experienced some learning loss.
● How different is the observed 2021 achievement growth of New Hampshire students
from their expected growth, in
o English language arts?
▪ The SEA is analyzing the validity and reliability of different
growth calculation methodologies.
o Mathematics?
▪ The SEA is analyzing the validity and reliability of different
growth calculation methodologies.
o English language proficiency?
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▪ The SEA is analyzing the validity and reliability of different
growth calculation methodologies.
● What is the anticipated academic recovery time for each based on the experienced
COVID-19 disruptions?
o Students who experienced more remote instruction had assessment results
that were dramatically below students who experienced more in-person
instruction. We anticipate that providing students with more in-person
instruction and learning time alone will have significant impact on
learning recovery.
For more information, please see the New Hampshire Department of Education’s updated
iPlatform content with newly individualized report cards for each school district on iReport,
which includes 2021 achievement data.
On June 1, 2021, the SEA disseminated the 603 Bright Futures Survey on school climate,
including questions on perspectives regarding the response by New Hampshire schools to the
COVID-19 pandemic over school year 2020-2021 and how the experience should have
influenced instructional plans made for fall learning. It also included perspectives on how school
districts facilitated parent involvement in the special education process, informing IDEA
Indicator 8. Respondents included 4,508 educators, 15,077 family members, and 1,037
community members from across the state, representing 80% of those districts receiving ARP
ESSER funds. In all stakeholder groups, questions regarding school safety and barriers to
engagement produced highly favorable responses, while professional learning and family
engagement emerged as areas for improvement.
603 Bright Futures Survey results were published on the SEA’s website and LEAs have had
access to their unique data to help inform statewide and LEA-specific conversations on the
social, emotional, and mental health impacts of the pandemic and how to best support student
well-being for the remainder of the 2021-2022 school year and beyond.
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;
17
b. Enrollment: Student enrollment for all students and disaggregated
for each of the student groups described in A.3.iviii 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.iviii for each mode of
instruction.
SEA Response
Currently, more than 99% of all New Hampshire students have the option of 5-days per week of
in-person instruction.
On April 2, 2021, consistent with the belief that all students should have access to full-time, in-
person instruction, Governor Christopher Sununu issued Emergency Order #89.1 This
Emergency Order required, among other things, that “all New Hampshire schools must provide
in person instruction 5-days per week for all students who elect such an option” no later than
April 19, 2021. The Emergency Order provided a waiver process for schools that would not be
able to meet this requirement. Six schools were granted waivers to allow for a delayed opening.
On May 3, 2021, all but two New Hampshire schools had complied with the order and two
schools were granted extended waivers for the remainder of the school year. Both of these
schools offer unique programming to students with high-risk health conditions.
At this time, the State Board of Education is finalizing a regulation aligned with the Governor’s
emergency order, which expired with the cessation of the state of emergency on May 7, 2021.
This regulation requires all schools to offer in-person instruction, 5-days per week. A school is
permitted to offer remote instruction to those students whose parents choose remote or hybrid
instruction. A school also is permitted to offer remote instruction to students that cannot attend
in-person instruction, including in cases where the student has contracted COVID-19, are a
household contact of someone with COVID-19 required to quarantine, or have other family
circumstances that prevent them from participating in in-person instruction; however, schools
are not required to provide remote instruction in such instances. Not providing in-person
instruction under these circumstances should be on a temporary basis, only until the
circumstances resolve (e.g., students recover from COVID-19).
While all New Hampshire students have the opportunity for full-time in-person instruction,
except noted above, the SEA has modified its school year 2021-2022 End of Year (EOY) data
collection to collect instructional mode and attendance information by student, including
subgroup and by mode of instruction. This level of data, which will be available after October
2022, will provide detailed student level information that can be correlated between student
1
Prior to Emergency Order #89, Governor Sununu issued Emergency Order #85 on March 8, 2021. This Emergency
Order required, among other things, that "New Hampshire schools must provide in-person instruction for at least
two days per week for any student who wishes to elect such an option, unless a school elects to transition to full
time distance learning for all students or a segment of students."
18
performance and instructional modes throughout the year to the extent LEAs are able to
accurately provide it to the SEA.
New Hampshire does not have a statewide student information system. As such, the annual EOY
data collection is the most expeditious method to compile the information. The SEA commits to
posting the data on its website once validated so the public may view it. The SEA would also
flag that not all school districts have student information systems that will support this data
collection, so some estimating may be required. In order to ensure accuracy, the SEA commits to
a thorough review of all data and additional follow-ups with LEAs as necessary in order to meet
its goal to publish clear and reliable information for the public to view online.
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 SEA will periodically review data
listed in A.5.i on SEA websites.
SEA Response
The SEA has completed the information in Appendix A, to the extent it has such data available.
This includes information for Elementary, Middle and High School. The SEA does not currently
have such information for subgroups. The SEA has modified its school year 2021-2022 End of
Year (EOY) data collection to collect this enrollment information by subgroup and by mode of
instruction. New Hampshire does not have a statewide student information system. As such, the
EOY data collection is the most expeditious method to compile the information. The SEA
would also note that not all school districts have student information systems that will support
this data collection, so some estimating may be required. In order to ensure accuracy, the SEA
commits to a thorough review of all data and additional follow-ups with LEAs as necessary in
order to meet its goal to publish clear and reliable information for the public to view online.
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.
SEA Response
New Hampshire schools are currently open for full-time, in-person instruction. During the
summer of 2021 and school year 2021-2022, New Hampshire schools offered full-time, in-
person instruction comparable to programming offered during summers and school years past.
The SEA expects the same operational status and mode of instruction in summer 2022, and some
school districts intend to offer additional programming to address learning loss. Additionally, the
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SEA utilized $3.0 million of GEER I State funds to provide access to New Hampshire youth
recreation camps to support student social, emotional, and mental health through the
ReKINDling Curiosity program. As a wrap-around service to this offering the SEA also
contracted with the New Hampshire Community Behavioral Health Association and Community
Mental Health Centers to provide training and support to New Hampshire camps in support of
students attending camp. The SEA has also obligated $2.5 million of its 1% ARP ESSER State
set-aside to provide summer enrichment activities, including by extending this transformational
program to summer 2022 and beyond. New Hampshire also recently announced a new, free
summer enrichment program will be available in summer 2022 to help students from
kindergarten through eighth-grade across the state with learning recovery in a personalized,
small-group setting. The same entity that helped the SEA launch its Recovering Bright Futures
program is now offering Discovery Summer Camp. The enrichment program will support
students “in setting summer goals, conquering their academic needs, collaborating with peers,
and exploring growth,” especially in STEAM subjects.
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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;
Complete the table below, adding rows as necessary, or provide a
narrative description.
SEA Response
The SEA released its first version of New Hampshire Grades K-12 Back-to-School Guidance in
early July 2020. This comprehensive resource, which has been continually updated throughout
both the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 school years (most recent update as of February 7, 2022),
provides New Hampshire LEAs with comprehensive guidance about the safe operation of
school. This resource was developed by the SEA in collaboration with DHHS and reflects CDC
as well as state public health guidelines, as applied to the unique circumstances of the pandemic
in New Hampshire. These high-quality resources are complemented by easy-to-understand
FAQs, checklists, and posters that are available in multiple languages.
In addition to this critical resource, both the SEA and State and local public health officials have
continued to provide on-going updates and resources to LEAs throughout the pandemic. This
included, early in the pandemic, meetings with school leaders and the SEA three-times weekly to
communicate vital information. Beginning in the fall 2020, these meetings were tapered first to
twice per week and then to weekly. Finally, these meetings were tapered to twice per month and
a weekly call was introduced directly with DHHS to respond to specific health related questions
school leaders, and in particular school nurses, might have relative to COVID-19 response.
In no small part, these efforts have resulted in the New Hampshire schools being open for full-
time, in-person instruction as of April 2021.
All of this historical support and continued support is documented both on school resource pages
on the DHHS website as well as on the SEA website. These high levels of support will continue
through 2021 and 2022.
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Table B1.
Mitigation strategy SEA response
Universal and correct State public health officials continue to provide direct guidance on
wearing of masks the importance and appropriate application of mask guidance. This is
continually updated, as reflected in this most recent update.
Physical distancing COVID-19 mitigation strategies, including physical distancing, are
(e.g., including use of specifically addressed in New Hampshire Grades K-12 Back-to-
cohorts/podding) School Guidance and updated communications from the SEA and
state public health as described above. In addition, a number of
communication resources were developed for use by LEAs in
communicating these important practices.
Handwashing and COVID-19 mitigation strategies, including hand sanitation and
respiratory etiquette respiratory etiquette, are specifically addressed in New Hampshire
Grades K-12 Back-to-School Guidance and updated communications
from the SEA and state public health as described above. In addition,
a number of communication resources were developed for use by
LEAs in communicating these important practices.
Cleaning and COVID-19 mitigation strategies, including cleaning and facilities, are
maintaining healthy specifically addressed in New Hampshire Grades K-12 Back-to-
facilities, including School Guidance and updated communications from the SEA and
improving ventilation state public health as described above.
Contact tracing in In coordination with state public health, a school liaison office was
combination with established at public health to assist schools to respond to specific
isolation and questions not included in guidance documents and to work alongside
quarantine, in schools in contact tracing, where appropriate, depending on
collaboration with the community infection rates. In addition, a School Toolkit was
State, local, territorial, developed to provide guidance for contact tracing. These supports
or Tribal health SEAs will continue in the 2021-2022 school year.
Diagnostic and COVID-19 mitigation strategies, including diagnostic and screening,
screening testing are specifically addressed in New Hampshire Grades K-12 Back-to-
School Guidance and updated communications from the SEA and
state public health as described above. In addition, specific guidance
was provided to LEAs relative to diagnostic and screening testing
were developed for use by LEAs in communicating these important
practices. Lastly, in April 2021 and in partnership with state public
health officials, the Safer At School Screening Program (SASS) was
made available to schools. This program extended testing benefits to
schools across New Hampshire through the end of the 2021 school
year. 97 schools participated in the program, or about 20% of all
public schools in the state. This program will continue to be offered
to schools for the 2021-2022 school year
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Efforts to provide New Hampshire had one of the nation’s most successful vaccine roll-
vaccinations to out programs in the country. New Hampshire educators were
educators, other staff, prioritized for vaccines just behind emergency and medical personnel
and students, if eligible and the most vulnerable populations. Vaccine administration was
coordinated through Community Health Centers, including options
for on-site clinics at school locations. In New Hampshire, there are
today available vaccine opportunities for those eligible and seeking a
vaccination.
Appropriate Starting in March 2020, significant effort and attention was placed on
accommodations for making sure that students with disabilities were making progress
children with toward educational and other IEP goals. This included specific state
disabilities with respect Emergency Order #48 Special Education Requirements to Support
to the health and safety Education. Further, working with state public health, specific
policies guidance was developed early in the pandemic for the safe delivery
of in-person special education services, including services to some of
our most medically needy students. In addition, CARES Act and state
level IDEA funds were specifically allocated to support third-party
providers of services to students with disabilities and to provide
school districts with funds to support needed compensatory education
services.
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;
SEA Response
Consistent with Governor Sununu’s Emergency Order #89, New Hampshire schools are
currently open for full-time, in-person instruction. The Emergency Order provides a waiver
process for schools unable to meet this requirement; two schools serving medically fragile
students received such a waiver. The expectation is that all New Hampshire schools will be open
for full-time, in-person instruction during the fall of 2021.
To monitor LEA implementation and to meet federal ARP ESSER statutory and regulatory
requirements, the SEA released a template for the LEA Plan on the Safe Return to In-Person
Instruction and Continuity of Services, otherwise known as the “school district reopening plan,”
on May 25, 2021, the day following the SEA’s allocation of two-thirds of ARP ESSER LEA
funds. The plan template, which is consistent with ARPA and ARP ESSER IFR requirements,
and other ARP ESSER documents can be found here. In addition to LEAs complying with the
statutory requirements for public posting and comments within 30 days of receipt of ARP
ESSER funds, the SEA will publish all LEA Plans on the Safe Return to In-Person Instruction
and Continuity of Services on its ARP ESSER webpage.
23
Moving forward, the SEA will resume monitoring and enforcing the New Hampshire Minimum
Standards for Public School Approval, which governs the day-to-day operating status of schools
in the state and imposes basic requirements (such as the minimum number of instructional hours
required in a school year) as it has traditionally done.
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 SEA based
on funding awarded by the CDC; and
SEA Response
The SEA has facilitated collaboration between state public health officials, state leaders, and
school leaders, both from LEAs and Non-public schools, from the beginning of the pandemic.
The SEA and state public health websites include extensive information and resources
developed in close coordination.
In April 2021, in partnership with state public health officials, the Safer At School Screening
Program (SASS) was made available to schools. This program extended testing benefits to
schools across New Hampshire through the end of the 2021 school year. 97 schools participated
in the program, or about 20% of all public schools in the state. This program will continue to be
offered to schools for the 2021-2022 school year.
iv. Any guidance, professional learning, and technical assistance
opportunities the SEA will make available to its LEAs.
SEA Response
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the SEA has provided LEAs guidance and technical
assistance on a dedicated website, through community discussions, over social media and
many other modes of communication.
For LEA staff, the SEA has offered on-going professional development opportunities in two
principal areas. The first is relative to the mental and behavioral health of both students and
educators alike. In doing so, the SEA built an important library of training in this area through
its Bureau of Student Wellness. The Bureau of Student Wellness will continue to provide
pandemic-responsive professional development for student mental and behavioral health,
including by further growing its library of resources on its YouTube channel and portal in
response to the field’s needs.
While New Hampshire schools continued to offer in-person instruction through the fall and
winter of 2021, the SEA also recognizes that our educators need to have tools available to
them in the event that they need, once again, to pivot to a remote instructional model. Toward
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that end, through an RFP process, the SEA contracted with the University System of New
Hampshire, Granite State College to offer all New Hampshire educators training in designing
an online course, instructing an online course and using the state learning management system
to conduct that instruction. To encourage educator participation in this program, the SEA paid
participation stipends.
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.
SEA Response
At the time of passage of ARP ESSER, the SEA held informational sessions with LEAs to
familiarize them with the provisions of the new law. In these informational sessions, specific
reference was made to Section 2001(i) Safe Return to In-Person Instruction. One of the areas
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.
25
emphasized was the reopening plan requirement that LEA’s “shall seek public comment on the
plan and take such comments into account in the development of the plan.” In addition, the SEA
used the maximum allowable number of days in order to make LEA grant fund allocations. This,
in turn, provided the LEA’s with the maximum allowable time to fulfill this requirement.
To ensure LEAs meet such federal ARP ESSER statutory and regulatory requirements, the SEA
released a template for the LEA Plan on the Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity
of Services, otherwise known as the “school district reopening plan,” on May 25, 2021, the day
following the SEA’s allocation of two-thirds of ARP ESSER LEA funds. The plan template,
which is consistent with ARPA and ARP ESSER IFR, and other ARP ESSER documents can be
found here. On May 26, 2021, the SEA conducted a webinar with all school district
superintendents walking through the template, which outlines the relevant statutory and
regulatory requirements, and explaining relevant deadlines including that the plan must be
submitted and posted within 30 days of receipt of funds. The template includes:
i. The extent to which the LEA adopted each CDC health and safety strategy in table B1 in
SY 2020-2021 and the extent to which the LEA will adopt each strategy in SY 2021-
2022. Such components of the school district reopening plan will be evaluated for
completeness.
ii. Descriptions in both SY 2020-2021 and SY 2021-2022 of how the LEA provided/will
provide continuity of services in addressing student academic needs; continuity of
services in addressing student social, emotional, mental, and other health needs, which
may include student health and food services; and continuity of services in addressing
staff social, emotional, mental, and other health needs. Such components of the school
district reopening plan will be evaluated for completeness.
iii. Affirmation and description of how the LEA will meet the federal regulatory requirement
to review and, as appropriate, revise its school district reopening plan at least every six
months through September 30, 2023; how the LEA will meet the federal statutory
requirement to seek public input and take such input into account in determining whether
to revise the plan and, if revisions are determined necessary, on the revisions it makes to
its plan; how the LEA will also meet the federal regulatory requirement to address CDC
safety recommendations and, if the CDC has updated its safety recommendations at the
time the LEA is revising its plan, each of the updated CDC safety recommendations.
Such components of the school district reopening plan will be evaluated for
completeness. The SEA will require affirmation of review and, if applicable,
resubmission of the school district reopening plan every six months through September
30, 2023.
iv. Descriptions of LEA adoption of each CDC health and safety strategy in table B1 in SY
2020-2021 and SY 2021-2022. Such components of the school district reopening plan
will be evaluated for completeness. The SEA will make potential CDC guidance updates
available to district superintendents, as it did so with previous iterations of CDC
guidance. The SEA will also continue to connect LEAs with state and local health
officials to appropriately meet their needs for relevant support and technical assistance
26
regarding localized safety measures based on the guidance provided by the CDC, NH
Public Health, and local public health officials.
In addition to the new SEA processes described above, the New Hampshire Department of
Health and Human Services (DHHS) built a state COVID-19 dashboard. This dashboard collects
and reports a number of data elements relative to COVID-19. There is a specific school section
in which DHHS has the ability to collect information on instructional models across the state. In
addition, however, the dashboard was also built to collect information relative to school level
policies across a number of important areas including: General Policies (e.g., masks, extra-
curricular activities, and sports), Hygiene, Distancing (classrooms, lunch and recess),
Transportation and Guest Access to schools. All of these tools may be deployed to understand
how LEAs may be implementing the current CDC and state public health guidance. To the extent
it is practicable, the SEA will support DHHS and its LEAs to fully populate these dashboards
with current information for view by parents and the public.
27
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);
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.
SEA Response
The SEA values robust input from stakeholders on such an important topic and engaged with
stakeholders from around the state, including students, families, civil rights experts, school and
district leaders, teacher, and 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.
In Spring 2020, the SEA convened a broad stakeholder group called the School Transition,
Redesign and Reopening Taskforce (STRRT). STRRT and its related workgroup members
included over 60 individuals representing a wide range of stakeholders. STRRT stakeholder
input was a critical component of the state reopening guidance developed by the SEA and the
Department of Health and Human Services.
As such, STRRT was reactivated to quickly gain input for the State Plan for the ARP/ESSER.
28
Members of STRRT by stakeholder group included the following:
i. Students The Student Voice work group was composed of four
students, three from secondary education and one from a
middle school. All participated with parental permission.
ii. Families The family representatives provided feedback for each of
these workgroups and family perspectives.
iii. Tribes N/A
iv. Civil rights organizations The Taskforce included representatives who work with
(including disability rights students with disabilities as well as the New Hampshire
organizations) Association of Special Education. In addition, the SEA
made specific outreach for feedback from the New
Hampshire Commissioner for Human Rights and Disability
Rights Center of New Hampshire.
v. School and district Five of the six work groups of the Taskforce (Instruction,
administrators (including special Student Wellness, School Operations, Technology, and
education administrators) Associations) included school board members, school
administrators, special education administrators, school
principals, on each of the workgroups.
vi. Superintendents Five of the six work groups of the Taskforce (Instruction,
Student Wellness, School Operations, Technology, and
Associations) included a school superintendent on each of
the workgroups with executive director of the New
Hampshire School Administrators Association acting as
chair of the Associations work group
vii. Charter school leaders (if Five of the six work groups of the Taskforce (Instruction,
applicable) Student Wellness, School Operations, Technology, and
Associations) included representatives from charter schools,
as well as the executive director of the New Hampshire
Alliance for Public Charter Schools.
viii. Teachers, principals, school Five of the six work groups of the Taskforce (Instruction,
leaders, other educators, school Student Wellness, School Operations, Technology, and
staff, and their unions Associations) included representatives from teachers and
other school staff.
29
ix. Stakeholders representing the In addition to their representation on the other workgroups,
interests of children with representatives from each of these organizations participated
disabilities, English learners, in and provided feedback as a stand-alone workgroup:
children experiencing • NH Athletic Directors Association (NHADA)
homelessness, children and youth • NH School Boards Association (NHSBA)
in foster care, migratory students, • NH Parent Teachers Association (NHPTA)
children who are incarcerated, and • NH School Principals Association (NHSPA)
other underserved students • NH School Administrators Association (NHSAA)
• NH American Federation of Teachers (NH-AFT)
• NH Association of School Psychologists
• NH School Counselors Association (NHSCA)
• NH Association of Special Education Administrators
(NHASEA)
• NH Interscholastic Athletic Association (NHIAA)
• NH Music Educators Association (NHMEA)
• NH School Library Media Association (NHSLMA)
• NH School Nurses Association
• NH Extended Learning Opportunities (NHELON)
• NH Afterschool Network (NHAN)
• NH American Choral Directors Association
(NHACDA)
• NH Chief Technology Officers Organization
(NHCTO)
• NH Alliance for Public Charter Schools (NHAPCA)
• National Education Association of NH (NEA-NH)
• NH Parent Information Center (PIC)
• NH Career & Technical Education (NHCTE)
• State Board of Education
• NH Private Special Education Association
• NH Association of School Business Officials
(NHASBO)
• NH School Transportation Association (NHSTA)
• School District Governance Association of NH
(SDGANH)
• Athletic Directors Association (NHADA)
• NH School Boards Association (NHSBA)
STRRT was organized into six workgroups, including Instruction, Student Wellness, School
Operations, Technology, Student Voice and Associations. Among each of these groups, there
were representatives from various stakeholder constituent groups, as illustrated here:
30
Instruction Workgroup
Parent
Special Education, Oyster River School District
Principal, Spaulding Youth Center
Parent
Teacher, Vilas Middle School
Superintendent (SAU #76)
Principal, Manchester School of Technology
Parent
Teacher, Granite State High School
Home Education Advisory Council (HEAC)
Diocese of Manchester
Superintendent, Mill Falls Charter School
Teacher, Pembroke Hills Elementary School
Principal, Adult Diploma Program (SAU #84)
Assistant Superintendent, Merrimack Valley School District
Superintendent, Virtual Learning Academy Charter School (VLACS)
English Language Learners, NHED
Student Wellness Workgroup
Counselor, Franklin School District
NH Pediatric Society (NH AAP)
Counselor, Bakersville School
NH Children's Behavioral Health Collaborative
Seacoast Community Mental Health Center
Teacher, Timberlane Regional High School
School Nurse, Merrimack School District
Parent
Parent
NH Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS)
Special Education Teacher, Bedford School District
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Associations Workgroup
NH Athletic Directors Assoc. (NHADA)
NH School Boards Assoc. (NHSBA)
NH Parent Teachers Association (NHPTA)
NH School Principals Assoc. (NHSPA)
NH School Administrators Assoc. (NHSAA)
NH American Federation of Teachers (NH‐AFT)
NH Assoc. of School Psychologists
NH School Counselors Assoc. (NHSCA)
NH Assoc. of Special Ed Admin (NHASEA)
NH Interscholastic Athletic Assoc. (NHIAA)
NH Music Educators Assoc. (NHMEA)
NH School Library Media Association (NHSLMA)
NH School Nurses Assoc.
NH Extended Learning Opportunities (NHELON)
NH Afterschool Network (NHAN)
NH American Choral Directors Assoc. (NHACDA)
NH Chief Technology Officers Organization (NHCTO)
NH Alliance for Public Charter Schools (NHAPCA)
National Education Assoc. of NH (NEA‐NH)
NH Parent Information Center (PIC)
NH Career & Technical Education (NHCTE)
State Board of Education
NH Private Special Education Association
NH Assoc. of School Business Officials (NHASBO)
NH School Transportation Assoc. (NHSTA)
School District Governance Assoc. of NH (SDGANH)
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STRRT followed an expedited process to solicit meaningful feedback for the ARP/ESSER plan.
This process, which was facilitated by the Region 1 Comprehensive Center (AIR), included the
following process:
• The SEA communicated the stakeholder engagement process to all STRRT
designees and workgroup members.
• The SEA prepared a set of communication templates for STRRT designees to
engage workgroup members.
• The SEA engaged the state Comprehensive Center, led by AIR, to facilitate
stakeholder feedback.
• STRRT designees coordinated the gathering of feedback from workgroup
members.
• The Comprehensive Center compiled all workgroup feedback into standard
presentation templates.
• A public meeting was scheduled (and advertised on the SEAs website) on May
17, 2021. This public meeting, which was also attended by local press, was
facilitated by the Comprehensive Center. In the public meeting, STRRT designees
presented their feedback to the full STRRT, followed by an open discussion
period.
• An open invitation was made to allow listening public members to submit
additional feedback if they wanted.
In addition to the very public stakeholder process described above, the SEA made specific
outreach to two additional groups, the New Hampshire Commission on Human Rights and the
Disability Rights Center of New Hampshire, to ensure complete feedback was received from
civil rights organizations.
A complete list of feedback received is included as Exhibit A to this plan and has been
posted on the SEA website. The feedback that was received was considered and, as much as
possible, incorporated into the strategies and actions described in this plan.
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
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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);
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.
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.
SEA Response
Table C1.
100% of ESSER I and ESSER II funds, as well as ARP/ESSER funds have been made available
to LEAs.
As of June 4, 2021, LEAs have accessed and spent ESSER I and ESSER II funds as follows.
LEA Used of Funds
The tables below outline how LEAs have allocated and drawn down funds from the ESSER I and
ESSER II grants.
LEA ESSER I (as of Jun 4, 2021)
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LEA ESSER II (as of June 4, 2021)
SEA Use of Funds
The table below outlines how the SEA has preliminarily obligated and the unallocated
federal grant funds.
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, the SEA provided the following supports to:
• Students from low-income families: The SEA has targeted its CARES and CRRSA-
funded programming to student groups on which the pandemic had a disproportionate
impact. For example, the ReKINDling Curiosity: Every Kid Goes to Camp program
and the YES! program described serve means-tested students and students with
disabilities; program supports reflect student need. Beginning in SY 2021-2022, the
SEA also plans to utilize Title I funds to provide students in Title I and Title I eligible
high schools with access to online college credit-bearing courses. These courses are
embedded in the school day and are offered in partnership with Equity Lab.
• Children with disabilities: Using IDEA state funds, the SEA reimbursed school
districts over $1.7 million for compensatory education funds to support providing
students with disabilities who may not have received all the services needed during
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the pandemic with appropriate compensatory education services. Early in the
pandemic, the SEA also provided school districts over $1 million in IDEA state funds
based on a per-pupil award to support the purchase of electronics and other materials
needed to support students with disabilities in receiving their services remotely.
Finally, using federal funds the Governor’s Office for Emergency Relief and
Recovery designated the SEA to administer, the SEA provided nearly $3 million to
approved private providers of special education to offset lost revenue and pandemic-
related expenses. Thus, the SEA helped ensure these vital entities providing support
services to students with some of the most severe disabilities within New Hampshire
would be available to support students during and after the pandemic.
• English learners: English learners (ELs) in New Hampshire are an immensely
diverse group of students with varying experiences and a range of educational needs.
For many ELs, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the difficulties ELs face.
The quick pivot to remote learning resulted in an uneven response across the state.
Recognizing that ELs disproportionately may have difficulty accessing disrupted
instruction, the SEA provided $1.0 million of funding to non-profits supporting these
families, including immigrant support organizations, and a local university to provide
direct support to make sure that these students were able to access their instruction
during the pandemic.
• Racial or ethnic minorities: The SEA provided and will continue to provide
additional support to under-performing student subgroups, including low-income
students, ESL students and students with disabilities, which groups disproportionately
include racial and ethnic minorities. The SEA does not provide support exclusively
based on race consistent with federal civil rights law.
• Students experiencing homelessness: To ensure students experiencing homelessness
have access to and appropriate supports from their district public school of choice, the
New Hampshire McKinney Vento team provided timely responses to increased and
novel requests for technical assistance regarding LEA responsibilities to serve
students experiencing homelessness. This technical assistance was provided through
phone meetings and the dissemination of guidance through information driven
responses to individual needs. Additionally, the SEA supported the development of
pandemic responsive content to be presented at the state and regional liaison
conferences at which critical learning and networking takes place. The SEA also
supported LEA use to the federal Title I-A grant and ESSER funds to remove barriers
to education, which include providing technology and hot spots for internet access to
students during remote learning.
• Children and youth in foster care: Through the ESEA Programs Office, the SEA
has supported those children and youth in foster care by providing districts with
technical assistance around best interest decisions for the students’ academic success.
This includes assuring that all students entering foster care will be able to remain at
their school of origin, if in the best interest of the student. The SEA works with the
LEAs to make sure that there is a foster care plan in place to this end, addressing how
36
transportation will be provided, naming a foster care point of contact for the LEA,
and requiring immediate enrollment and transfer of records, should the student need
to change schools. Remaining in the school of choice or lessening the impact of a
necessary change are vital to ensuring that students entering foster care will continue
to have academic success. Additionally, the SEA has and will continue to work
collaboratively with the NH DHHS to ensure educational stability for students in
foster care including additional support for transportation, immediate enrollment, and
record transfers, as well as additional educational support services.
• Migratory students: During the pandemic, the New Hampshire Migrant Education
Program team which is supported by federal basic and consortium migrant education
grants, ensured that all students received educational materials by mail and drop-off.
Referrals to appropriate educational and social services were made after a discussion
with parents/caregivers regarding needed academic, nutritional, and social/emotional
supports during the pandemic. All families were sent personal protective equipment
kits (PPE), which included a flier in their native language explaining the importance
of social distancing and the safety guidelines set forth by the State. To protect both
our students and our staff, one-on-one tutoring, home visits, and recruiting took place
virtually. Online tutorials were offered to interested students, and SEA staff contacted
families to ensure they had access to both internet and computers in order to
participate in remote learning offered by the school district and the SEA.
The SEA has evaluated other Federal funding sources in an effort to support LEAs in
their COVID-19 response. These include:
• Starting in March 2020, significant effort and attention was placed on making sure
that students with disabilities were making progress toward educational and other IEP
goals. This included state Emergency Order #48 Special Education Requirements to
Support Education. This Emergency Order, among other things, required,
o “1. Each school district is required to hold Individualized Education Plan
("IEP") team meetings, as set forth in RSA 186-C:7 and Ed 1107, to consider
Extended-School Year ("ESY") services for every child with an IEP,
regardless of whether they have been provided ESY in the past, no later than
June 30th, 2020. If, at the time of the IEP team meeting, the remote instruction
emergency orders have been neither removed nor extended through the
summer, the IEP program team shall consider options for both traditional in-
person ESY programs and for remote ESY programs.
o Each school district must ensure that they hold IEP team meetings for every
student identified for special education services no later than 30 calendar days
after the first day of the school district's 2020-2021 school year. At the
meeting, the IEP team will consider what Compensatory Education Services,
if any, are required to be provided to make up for services not provided during
period of remote instruction and support, student regression, or student's
failure to make expected progress as indicated in the student's IEP.”
37
As a result of these Emergency Order activities, LEAs compiled a list of identified
compensatory education services that were needed. In support of providing these
compensatory services, the SEA used $1.7 million of state level IDEA funds.
• Upon return to instruction in September 2020, it became apparent that certain English
learner populations might need additional support in accessing their instruction. The
SEA, working with the governor’s office, implemented contracts using $1.0 million
of CARES Act funds with community organizations and a local college to provide
direct support services to this population. This program was so effective in supporting
the English learner population, that the SEA has continued the work in the Spring of
2021 with an additional $1.0 million of GEER funds.
• Recognizing the serious strain on LEA finances as a result of COVID-19 response,
the SEA worked with the governor’s office to develop and implement a $45 million
Supplemental Funding program for LEAs, including $500 per pupil and $10 million
of emergency grant funds.
• Recognizing also that Special Education service providers were also significantly
disrupted by COVID-19, a special $3.0 million grant program was offered to these
essential third party providers to help them in providing essential support services to
students with disabilities.
• Recognizing the disruption to student enrichment and before and after school
programming, the SEA offered a $1.5 million grant program to student enrichment
programming using CARES Act funds. In addition, the SEA offered Title IVB
programs, many of whom expanded programming to support remote learners while
parents were working, supplemental grants to support extended programming.
• Through the USDA, the SEA received $47 million of additional funding to support
extended meal support to families, many significantly impacted by the pandemic.
These funds were distributed through both LEA and qualifying community meal
programs.
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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 those interventions on an ongoing basis to understand if
they are working;
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
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.
SEA Response
The New Hampshire Department of Education (NHED) is using $2.5 million of its $17.5
million ARP ESSER Lost Instructional Time set-aside for this program to address the
academic impact of lost instructional time and for learning recovery. The SEA will continue to
offer school districts access to a learning recovery program, Recovering Bright Futures. This
program supports learning pods through multiple vendors that offer individualized
instructional models to best meet the learning needs of students where they provide high
dosage learning opportunities, evidence-based interventions and accelerated learning
opportunities. These learning pods are active during the school year and during the summer, to
recover loss instructional time. This model, which first launched with ESSER II state funds,
allows school districts and communities to offer small-group, multi-age, trauma-sensitive
39
instruction to students who most benefit from this type of intense instructional support. The
vendors that NHED has contracted with on this project are working with districts to target the
students that did not consistently participate in remote instruction during school closures and
the students that missed the most in person instructional time. Although NH schools were
required to provide in person instruction beginning in April 2021, these programs are
prioritizing those students that continued to not participate in person. In addition, students with
high dosage learning needs are prioritized. Learning pods are also available just for summer
participation for families that needs to access more supports. The vendors will be utilizing
several assessment tools to progress monitor student achievement including the NH statewide
assessment system (NHSAS) summative and interim tests, iReady tests, and other formative
assessments. And when applicable, results can be compared to previous NHSAS results for
reading, math, and writing.
NHED is currently contracting with Demonstrated Success for assessment data coaching and in
implementing multi-tiered systems of support for academics to address learning recovery and
loss of instructional time. This is funded with carry over of federal assessment funds.
Demonstrated Success is working with schools to analyze NHSAS summative assessment data
in ELA, math and science from 2019, 2021 and 2022 in order to identify which students may
benefit from intense instructional support programs and MTSS interventions and programs such
as Recovering Bright Futures. This also feeds into the progress monitoring of students in these
programs to ensure that academic gains are being made.
NHED is using $4 million of its $17.5 million ARP ESSER Lost Instructional Time set-aside to
address the academic impact of lost instructional time by partnering with Discovery Education to
provide all schools, educators, families, and students statewide with access to its award-winning,
high-quality multimedia content, instructional supports, and innovative classroom tools. These
tools can be utilized for in class, after school and in summer programming to support learning
recovery. The standards-aligned content and instructional materials include ready-to-use digital
lessons, intuitive formative assessment and activity creation tools, and professional learning
resources through New Hampshire’s Canvas Learning Management System (Canvas is funded
through state level set aside ARP ESSER funds). This allows for educators to utilize materials
that are accessible to students in a classroom or learning environment that are on a wide spectrum
of skill attainment in an age-appropriate delivery system to ensure equitable access to content rich
and highly engaging curriculum. Additionally, educators also receive ongoing professional
learning and the support of Discovery Education instructional coaching and digital literacy
implementation experts to help support schools, after school programs and summer school
programs to utilize the resources efficiently and effectively to maximize instructional time. This
work is supported by another $4 million of ESSER II state funds.
In the 2021-2022 school year, students have displayed heightened levels of aggression,
diminished levels of impulse control, limited attention span, disinterest and poor motivation.
Within NHED’s Division of Learner Support, the Office of Social and Emotional Wellness has
been established to specifically address supporting educators, communities, families and
students with addressing the social and emotional needs of students to enhance academic success
and overall wellbeing. NHED has implemented the Multi-tiered Systems of Support for
Behavior Model (MTSS-B) throughout the state. The pandemic has exacerbated the need for this
work. One of the programs NHED is utilizing with $815,000 in ARP ESSER Lost Instructional
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Time set-aside funds is The Regulated Classroom© to support learning recovery. To prepare
students for learning and also address educator fatigue, the SEA is using this evidence-based
programming steeped in the work around trauma and the Polyvagal Theory. The Regulated
Classroom© equips educators across New Hampshire with resources to reduce stress and
dysregulation in the classroom, in after school programs and in other learning environments.
Through its intensive, in- person train-the-trainer program, on-demand online training, office
hours, and somatosensory toolkits of regulating manipulatives, NHED and The Regulated
Classroom© will deepen self- awareness and educators’ understanding of stress escalation so
that they are able to deescalate adverse and confrontational circumstances and better support the
social and emotional needs students to enhance academic success and learning recovery.
The Regulated Classroom is one of several programs the SEA is utilizing with NH schools and
after school programs that is part of MTSS-B. Other programs that are part of this
comprehensive program include Positive Behavior Interventions, Know the 5 Signs Campaign,
Community Awareness Briefings, Trauma Responsive Classrooms, Youth Mental Health First
Aid, Zones of Regulation, Choose Love, and more. NHED also partners with many agencies and
organizations, such as the NH Department of Health and Human Services, the Behavioral Health
Institute at Keene State University, Department of Justice, Homeland Security, and University of
New Hampshire, to leverage multiple sources of funding with our ARP ESSER Lost
Instructional Time set-aside so that we are able to offer a comprehensive response to social and
emotional wellness needs among students and educators due to the impact of COVID-19
pandemic.
An additional program within NHED’s MTSS-B model that the SEA has contracted with is One
Trusted Adult. This program focuses on supporting positive youth development and establishing
healthy relationships to ensure that every child has access to a caring adult. The SEA has
contracted with Brooklyn Raney, LLC, to provide exclusive One Trusted Adult programing to
125 New Hampshire schools throughout the next two years. The $794,555 contract utilizing
ARP ESSER Lost Instructional Time set-aside funds include online on-demand professional
development training for educators and families. This is to build foundations for schools and
after school programs to ensure that student’s have access to a trusted adult that has the tools and
strategies to build strong connections and healthy boundaries with students. Research shows that
youth who can name a trusted adult outside their home are less likely to bully or be bullied,
suffer from depression, abuse substances, be suspended, expelled, or drop out of school. This
program has already been successfully piloted at four school districts in the state and it is the
intent to offer this program to 125 New Hampshire schools so that thousands of children will
have access to a healthy, caring relationship with an adult at school. This will enable students to
be academically successful and support learning recovery.
NHED has also contracted with NextStep Health Tech to launch GoodLife, a mobile application
designed to build and strengthen student social and emotional resilience as part of the MTSS-B
programs and tools NHED is providing to schools, communities and students. GoodLife is
designed to harness the power and connectivity that social media offers to build adolescent
resilience, equipping young people to tackle anxiety, negativity and a host of other areas that can
create barriers to student social, emotional and academic success. The GoodLife app features
include the ability to see stories from others who have built skills to manage daily stressors and
navigate adversity in a positive way, to learn about different resilience principles like
empowerment, support, commitment to learning, and positive identity. Users can create and join
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communities around their interests like music, sports, food, the outdoors, animals, and academic
interests. All students across New Hampshire and their families have access to evidence-based
resilience cultivation tools through GoodLife. The contract with Nextstep LLC is $500,000.00
supported through ARP ESSER Lost Instructional Time set-aside funds.
All of the programs and services implemented through the Office of Social and Emotional
Wellness are evaluated through our agreement with the Behavioral Health Institute (BHII) at
Keene State College. NHED has contracted with BHII to serve as the external evaluator for our
social and emotional wellness and behavioral health initiatives. Their work includes tracking
quantitative data supplemented with qualitative data based on annual interviews with key
informants, in order to report performance measures. They collect data from the participating
local education agencies monthly and provide quarterly project evaluations to ensure that the
programs we are implementing in schools and after school programs are effective and leading to
positive outcomes. This evaluation work is funded through other federal grants.
The loss of instructional time due to the pandemic created barriers for many NH high school
students to attain high school completion. NHED is contracting with the Graduation Alliance for
$936,000 of ARP ESSER Lost Instructional Time set-aside to implement the Engage Attendance
Recovery Program. This program is designed to stabilize and improve student attendance and
academic performance. It includes outreach to and ongoing academic and individualized
coaching support for district-referred students who are disengaged, chronically absent, or
academically at-risk. Districts opt in to participate and provide referrals of eligible students to
the program and Engage outreach counselors use multi-modal and differentiated outreach
strategies to connect with students and families and offer them the ongoing support of an
Academic Success Coach. Participating families complete a risk assessment to determine
coaching assignments that are based on frequency of support available from families. The
Academic Success Coach provides personalized support for academic performance challenges,
navigating academic resources and mitigating social and emotional barriers so students can focus
on learning. Through the program, Graduation Alliance provides participation and mobility data
to the districts and NHED and will provide a final report upon program completion. There are
four schools that have committed to participating in this program initially, and were identified
based on the population, rural/metropolitan location and student need for services.
An additional high school completion program NHED has contracted with is the National Center
for College and Career Transitions (NC3T) for its Alternative Pathways to Completion of a high
school diploma project at a cost of $197,383 of ARP ESSER Lost Instructional Time set-aside.
Through this project, NC3T will develop an Alternative Pathways Toolkit for NHED to support
schools, parents and teachers in removing barriers so that students impacted by the pandemic
have multiple opportunities to attain high school completion and recover learning loss. NC3T
will provide technical assistance to students, parents and school personnel and support them with
making informed decisions through the myriad of innovative solutions available through New
Hampshire’s education system. Solutions include high school equivalency certificates, multi-
tiered diplomas, the Adult Diploma, and online or hybrid courses supported with other COVID-
19 federal relief funds. An additional option that is available to students are internships that
provide academic credit. NHED has contracted with AWATO, through ARP ESSER state level
set aside funds, to develop internships with NH businesses that allow for students to earn
academic credit through work-based learning opportunities. By leveraging multiple sources of
funding including ARP ESSER Lost Instructional Time set-aside NHED can provide students
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with the ability to attain high school completion.
During 2020- 2021, the SEA launched a series of support structures to aid students struggling
academically. One example of such support was the launch, along with Khan Academy, of
schoolhouse.world which provided online tutoring in math. As the demand for this service
increased and the need to add more content areas became apparent, NHED put out a request for
proposals for a more comprehensive support tutoring service.
NHED is in the process of finalizing a contract with a vendor to provide 24/7 online academic
tutoring services to all students in New Hampshire in grades 6-12. This grouping is being
targeted based on reviews of the state’s assessment results for 2021 and 2022, and in comparison
to the results from 2019. NHED determined that this grade span exhibited the most academic
loss in mathematics, English language arts and science. The tutoring service is a proactive and
collaborative academic resource to address lost instructional during and after school. Students
will have the opportunity to find a tutor in any content area, in a language that is accessible to
them any time, day or night. Students also have access to writing support with the ability to
upload papers for review by a highly qualified teacher in that content area with a return time of
less than 12 hours which includes a grading rubric and edits to guide the student. The online
platform provides an interactive digital learning environment that includes the ability to chat,
text-based or live, with students, document share and digital white boards for instruction. This
will dramatically increase gains made by the loss of instructional time because students can
access, at any time, a highly qualified tutor in the specific content area of need, with 1-1 support.
This eliminates the waiting time for students to see their teacher before they can proceed with
learning content, mastering skills and completing assignments. Students will also be able to
utilize this service during the summer of 2023 and 2024. NHED was initially contacted by
several LEAs throughout the state to obtain this specific type of service for their schools,
particularly our rural schools and our schools that serve our English language learners. This
resource is critical and will provide tutoring in multiple languages that parents may also access.
The SEA is allocating $3,346,072 of ARP ESSER Lost Instructional Time set-aside and
$1,453,928 of ARP ESSER After School set-aside towards this program.
To address lost instructional time for early childhood and elementary aged students, NHED is in
the process of launching the “Lean into Literacy” program to help support multiple literacy
initiatives based in the science of reading, across the state. Currently the SEA is in the process
of finalizing a contract with a vendor for $5 million to provide professional learning
opportunities to early childhood and elementary educators and anyone engaged with young and
emerging readers including parents, caregivers, grandparents, administrators and others working
with children enrolled in a NH education program. This includes $3,948,316 of ARP ESSER
Lost Instructional Time set-aside, and $1,051,684 of ARP ESSER After School set-aside. The
specific learning opportunities are catered to the audience and the capacity in which they are
working with students. Administrators participate in a program specific to creating systems and
structures within a school and district to achieve high levels of academic performance and
growth in literacy. Administrators learn how to build capacity, collaborate with school
leadership team, manage goal setting, develop assessment plans, and make effective data-based
decisions to have systemic impact on student literacy achievement. Early childhood educators
and families participate in a program that provides deep knowledge of literacy instruction for
the youngest learners and gain an understanding of how to build language and cognitive skills.
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Elementary educators are provided with the essential knowledge to master the fundamentals of
literacy instruction required to transform student learning. This program meets the International
Dyslexia Association (IDA) standards and is an accredited program for teachers of reading that
addresses each essential component of reading instruction and the foundational concepts that
link each component. This includes theoretical models from reading science, phonology, basic
and advanced phonics, screening, and educational diagnostic assessment, as well as teaching
vocabulary, language and reading comprehension, and writing. This professional learning is key
to the Lean into Literacy initiative that NHED is launching across the state and will allow for
the SEA to invest in the development of their educational work force to become educators with
a deep knowledge of literacy and language expertise in the science of reading. Leading to
positive academic outcomes for students.
An additional component of the Lean into Literacy initiative is the statewide reading
promotional campaign that will incorporate all of these critical skills into an interactive and easy
to use toolkit that parents, caregivers and community members can adopt in their work with
young children. NHED has allocated $495,000 of ARP ESSER Lost Instructional Time set-
aside for this component of the initiative to ensure that families are provided resources to
support academic gains in literacy for children that was lost due to the impact of the pandemic.
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SEA Meaningful Consultation:
Through the SEA stakeholder engagement process, important feedback was obtained that helped
shape the SEA’s response to student learning loss. The SEA prioritized its spending based on
stakeholder feedback and the identified issues and priorities outlined in Section A.2., above.
These include 1) individualized instruction to recover learning loss, 2) educator fatigue, and 3)
family engagement.
Another significant theme in our stakeholder feedback was the importance of stabilizing student
social and emotional health. Stakeholders identified that in order to make academic progress,
students will need to be socially and emotionally supported. In expanding the offerings provided
in partnership with Community Behavioral Health Association, the NH Department of Health
and Human Services, the Department of Justice, the Behavioral Health Institute at Keene State
College, the University of New Hampshire, the National Alliance on Mental Illness and others,
as described in Section D.2. through ARP ESSER funds, stakeholder feedback identified needs
including:
• School based mental and behavioral health supports, including counselors, social
workers, occupational therapists, community care teams, coaches, mentors,
interventionists; and
• Further expansion of the SEA’s work on MTSS-B and programs offered through that model,
Universal Design for Learning (UDL).
Additionally, with respect to instruction, representatives from the disability community continue
to advocate for continued expansion of inclusionary practices. This is an area that New
Hampshire has significantly invested in over the past four years, particularly with respect to its
UDL program. Additional training and instructional opportunities will further embed
inclusionary practices. Decoding Dyslexia, a NH grassroots movement driven by NH families
concerned with limited access to educational interventions for dyslexia and other reading
disorders, and the NH Parent Information Center on Special Education have heavily advocated
to implement science of reading curriculum and professional learning for elementary teachers.
Stakeholders also shared the importance of innovative learning spaces, including outdoor
learning spaces and alternative spaces for school district learning pods, when providing feedback
on ARP ESSER.
Both rural LEAs and schools with English language learners have requested access to online
tutoring platforms. This enables them to provide more 1-1 individualized instruction and
tutoring opportunities with qualified instructors. This is particularly as NH has difficulty
recruiting and retaining highly qualified teachers for all subject areas in the rural parts of the
state. In addition, certified English language learning teachers are also challenging to recruit
throughout the state.
These are all concerns and feedback the SEA considered in the continued development of the
ARP ESSER State Plan.
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Additional Supports to Address the Academic Impact of Lost Instructional Time:
Another area of additional support is a $2 million investment by the SEA in its Yes! Program.
This program provides students with supplemental support services including intensive tutoring
and supplemental special education therapies and services. In the first year, there were over
1,940 qualifying students – students with disabilities and economically disadvantaged students
– that were able to access up to $1,000 to obtain tutoring and special education therapies and
services. Qualified education providers for this program include New Hampshire certified
educators and qualified service providers including licensed therapists. The SEA continued
support of this program in 2022 and has widened participation to include all public, private and
non-public school aged students that reside in NH. This support of student groups
disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 through intensive, high-dose tutoring and
supplemental educational courses and services continues to be successful and is reaching more
students and families.
Additionally, to support learning recovery among students experiencing homelessness, the SEA
sub granted the first round of ARP Homeless funds, ARP Homeless I, to LEAs competitively.
This competition emphasized identification and outreach, reengagement, credit recovery and
attainment, transportation, and removing other unique barriers the pandemic has created for
students who are experiencing homelessness. In the 2019-2020 school year, 3,500 students were
identified as homeless. This number is expected to drop once 2020-2021 school year data
becomes available. Many liaisons have reported the reasons for this include students moving due
to loss of housing, remote learning challenges, and people who are newly homeless due to the
pandemic being unaware of McKinney Vento services.
While New Hampshire continued to offer full-time, in-person instruction through the 2021-2022
school year, the SEA improved the quality of online instruction to protect against potential
student disengagement. The SEA has, through an RFP process, leveraged $2 million of ESSER
II state funds to contract with the University System of New Hampshire, Granite State College
to offer all New Hampshire educators training in designing an online course, instructingan
online course and using the state learning management system to conduct that instruction. To
encourage educator participation in this program, the SEA paid participation stipends.
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
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evaluate the impact of those programs;
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
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.
SEA Response
The SEA made a significant investment in evidence-based (tier 1, 2 and 3) summer enrichment
activities for summer 2021 supported by more than $3.0 million in federal GEER I funds.
NHED used $2.5 million of its $3.5 million ARP ESSER summer learning and enrichment set-
aside to expand its evidence-based ReKINDling Curiosity program, which serves between 4,485
and 8,330 students in summers 2022, 2023, and 2024. The program provides low-income
students and students with disabilities the opportunity to attend a licensed New Hampshire camp,
and was designed to engage students in enriching opportunities so they can connect with peers,
develop healthy and appropriate relationships with caring adults in a camp setting, and to support
social and emotional wellness. The principal purpose of this program is to help students
reengage and support their social, emotional, and mental health needs so that they will be ready
and equipped to learn when they return to school each year. There are currently over 600 eligible
camps/summer programs that are part of the program. To ensure these interventions address the
needs of those students disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, the SEA continues to target
ReKINDling Curiosity programs to such students through work with the LEAs. For 2022 this
program was opened to all NH students to ensure access is available to all students that need the
support.
As part of this program, the SEA also contracted with the New Hampshire Community
Behavioral Health Association (CBHA), the Association for the state Community Mental Health
Centers. Through this $500,000 contract, all New Hampshire camp counselors (ages 14 and up)
are able to receive specific training to help identify and respond to mental and behavioral health
issues of students attending camps. In addition, the CBHA supports on-site counseling services
for those students needing such support as well as referral activities for students needing more
intensive support. Currently, these supports are funded by GEER II through summer 2022. The
SEA plans to extend these services in summers 2023 and 2024 through the ARP ESSER
summer learning and enrichment set-aside.
NHED has allocated the remaining $505,612 of ARP ESSER summer learning and enrichment
set-aside for summer 2023 enrichment programming in partnership with community-based
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organizations. The SEA will release a request for applications targeting NH community-based
organizations to provide summer enrichment opportunities for NH students that include
evidence-based interventions that address academic, social, emotional and mental health needs
of students.
In order to identify the students most in need, NHED consulted data from the spring 2021 and
2022 administration of the summative assessments for English Language Arts, Mathematics and
Science for grades 3-8 and grade 11. With this information, the SEA is able to target evidence-
based interventions toward those students whose learning was most affected by the pandemic.
In addition, the English language proficiency assessment, ACCESS 2.0 results for 2020, 2021
and 2022. These data allowed NH to derive academic impact data for English language learners
and identify the need for programming specific to English language learning students and
families. This was a priority of the Governor’s office and NHED was able to utilize Governor
directed COVID funding to offer summer learning opportunities targeted at English language
learners and families through a partnership with United Way of Nashua and multiple
community-based organizations throughout the state, to provide more comprehensive support
during the summer for identified students and their families.
Schools and districts are also leveraging their own Title I, ESSER funding for IDEA, IDEA
funding and other title and ESSER programs in order to provide summer opportunities at the
school level for students. With many of those grant programs scheduled to end September 30,
2022, LEAs are prioritizing expending those funds for the purpose of working with Title I and
IDEA eligible students. NHED also has distributed state generally funded robotics and STEM
grants for schools to utilize for summer programs. NHED has partnered and collaborated with
schools and community-based organizations while leveraging multiple sources of funding to
ensure that a variety and diverse spectrum of summer programming is available and accessible
to all NH students for learning recovery, social and emotional wellness, and enrichment.
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;
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
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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.
SEA Response
NHED is in the process of finalizing a contract with a vendor to provide 24/7 online academic
tutoring services to all students in New Hampshire in grades 6-12. This grouping is being
targeted based on reviews of the state’s assessment results for 2021 and 2022, and in comparison
to the results from 2019. NHED determined that this grade span exhibited the most academic
loss in mathematics, English language arts and science. The tutoring service is a proactive and
collaborative academic resource to address lost instructional during and after school. Students
will have the opportunity to find a tutor in any content area, in a language that is accessible to
them any time, day or night. Students also have access to writing support with the ability to
upload papers for review by a highly qualified teacher in that content area with a return time of
less than 12 hours which includes a grading rubric and edits to guide the student. The online
platform provides an interactive digital learning environment that includes the ability to chat,
text-based or live, with students, document share and digital white boards for instruction. This
will dramatically increase gains made by the loss of instructional time because students can
access, at any time, a highly qualified tutor in the specific content area of need, with 1-1 support.
This eliminates the waiting time for students to see their teacher before they can proceed with
learning content, mastering skills and completing assignments. Students will also be able to
utilize this service during the summer of 2023 and 2024. NHED was initially contacted by
several LEAs throughout the state to obtain this specific type of service for their schools,
particularly our rural schools and our schools that serve our English language learners. This
resource is critical and will provide tutoring in multiple languages that parents may also access.
The SEA is allocating $3,346,072 of ARP ESSER Lost Instructional Time set-aside and
$1,453,928 of ARP ESSER After School set-aside towards this program.
To address lost instructional time for early childhood and elementary aged students, NHED is in
the process of launching the “Lean into Literacy” program to help support multiple literacy
initiatives based in the science of reading, across the state. Currently the SEA is in the process
of finalizing a contract with a vendor for $5 million to provide professional learning
opportunities to early childhood and elementary educators and anyone engaged with young and
emerging readers including parents, caregivers, grandparents, administrators and others working
with children enrolled in a NH education program. This includes $3,948,316 of ARP ESSER
Lost Instructional Time set-aside, and $1,051,684 of ARP ESSER After School set-aside. The
specific learning opportunities are catered to the audience and the capacity in which they are
working with students. Administrators participate in a program specific to creating systems and
structures within a school and district to achieve high levels of academic performance and
growth in literacy. Administrators learn how to build capacity, collaborate with school
leadership team, manage goal setting, develop assessment plans, and make effective data-based
decisions to have systemic impact on student literacy achievement. Early childhood educators
and families participate in a program that provides deep knowledge of literacy instruction for
the youngest learners and gain an understanding of how to build language and cognitive skills.
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Elementary educators are provided with the essential knowledge to master the fundamentals of
literacy instruction required to transform student learning. This program meets the International
Dyslexia Association (IDA) standards and is an accredited program for teachers of reading that
addresses each essential component of reading instruction and the foundational concepts that
link each component. This includes theoretical models from reading science, phonology, basic
and advanced phonics, screening, and educational diagnostic assessment, as well as teaching
vocabulary, language and reading comprehension, and writing. This professional learning is key
to the Lean into Literacy initiative that NHED is launching across the state and will allow for
the SEA to invest in the development of their educational work force to become educators with
a deep knowledge of literacy and language expertise in the science of reading. Leading to
positive academic outcomes for students.
NHED is utilizing $1 million of its $3.5 million ARP ESSER evidence-based comprehensive
afterschool programs set-aside to target young learners and families negatively impacted by the
pandemic. NHED was able to begin offering the Waterford Upstart program to families and
students at the end of school year 2022 and for the summer of 2022. This program is a
supplemental at-home early learning program that focuses on pre-kindergarten and kindergarten
students to build school readiness skills in literacy and numeracy. It provides rising
kindergarteners, especially children from low-income families and children with disabilities, in-
home access to intensive academic support including personalized family education and
coaching and adaptive educational software. Families will have three program options for their
children entering kindergarten: Pandemic Recovery Path (16 weeks), Summer Learning Path
(12 weeks), and Upstart Full Year (36-weeks). It combines computer adaptive instruction at
home alongside personalized support from Family Education Liaisons who monitor progress
and empower parents as their child’s first educators. Waterford will provide NHED progress
monitor reports in addition to interim and year-end reports summarizing usage and achievement.
Additional Support of Evidence-Based Comprehensive Afterschool Programs:
Additionally, the SEA has supported evidence-based afterschool programs through a number of
partnerships with community-based organizations. Most notably, the SEA is utilizing $500,000
in GEER I and $300,000 in GEER II to partner with the New Hampshire United Way to provide
afterschool enrichment opportunities and other wraparound services to English learners and low-
income students. The SEA anticipates leveraging these and other community-based organization
partnerships to support student groups disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 in the use of
ARP ESSER state funds. In particular, the SEA partnered with an adult education center to
provide similar such services statewide—instruction including in digital literacy, technology and
internet, new parent information modules/sessions, and new joint family literacy activities—
utilizing ARP ESSER state funds.
The SEA also invested over $235,000 in ESSER I state funds in educational robotics afterschool
and summer enrichment programs. For example, supported by $57,000 in ESSER I state funds,
the SEA, VEX Robotics, SPARK Academy (a public charter high school) and the Manchester
Community College campus will host more than 60 educationally disadvantaged eighth grade
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students from the Manchester School District (New Hampshire’s largest school district) for a six-
week, hands-on program using VEX robotics technology during the summer of 2021. By
teaching students robotics, they will learn principles of computer programing, math, science, and
engineering. This program complements the Manchester LEA’s Gear Up program by providing
activities that align with the academic classes that the students will be taking within the district
while allowing students to learn in an interdisciplinary setting where they can apply the core
content area learning to real-life problems.
The SEA also partnered with evidence-based (tier 3) FIRST NH Robotics leveraging over
$175,000 in ESSER I state funds to provide mentor-based programs offering a progressive series
of team robotics challenges for students aged 6-18. The goal of this program is to continue to
support student learning in STEM concepts and skills through application in real-life problems
posed during hands-on experiments while participating on school teams in the robotic
challenges. Through the Spring Back Plan, NH FIRST also built interest in STEM with the
distribution of hands-on experiments for students and their families and through demonstrations
around New Hampshire and to summer camps programs within the state. The SEA intends to
continue to partner with high-quality afterschool enrichment providers to expand such
opportunities, especially in STEM.
Finally, utilizing $100,000 of GEER I, the SEA partnered with the vendor of its career
assessment platform, AWATO, to develop extended and work-based learning opportunities
especially targeting student groups disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.
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.
SEA Response
The SEA does intend to reserve funds for administrative costs and potentially emergency needs
under section 2001(f)(4). Such administrative costs include the staff of a newly established
Office of COVID-19 Education Programs, which will build SEA and LEA capacity to ensure
students’ and staff’s health and safety, meet students’ academic, social, emotional, and mental
health needs, and to use ARP ESSER funds to implement evidence-based interventions. The
SEA intends to hire a senior administrator to oversee the office and two additional senior staff.
This reserve for administrative costs will also include a Memorandum of Understanding with the
New Hampshire Department of Administrative Services’ Bureau of Public Works needed to
meet federal requirements related to the use of ESSER funds on construction projects.
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Regarding potential emergency needs, because most New Hampshire schools have been open
during the 2020-2021 school year and given the SEA provided $45 million of Supplemental
Funding to schools for 2020-2021, there are fewer emergency needs at the present time. The
SEA commits to partnering with LEAs and stakeholders to identify areas of need when utilizing
the remaining funds.
To further build upon its $6.2 million investment across ESSER I, ESSER II and GEER I in
iLearnNH, a statewide Learning Management System (LMS) on Canvas in collaboration with
the University System of New Hampshire, the SEA utilized an additional $1.7 million in ARP
ESSER funds. The SEA will continue to expand iLearnNH’s utility, as it allows evidence-based
and high-quality instructional materials, courses, and professional development to be
immediately deployed throughout the state. In particular, the SEA supports iLearnNH’s use to
expand course access opportunities for students and demand-driven professional development
for teachers. Teachers also use iLearnNH to build and manage courses based on their local
curriculum, manage and grade assignments, and communicate with students. Additionally,
Kaltura, a software offered as part of the Canvas platform, allows teachers to create video
lessons and students to create video reports.
Lastly, to support the effective fiscal management of emergency funds, the SEA invested nearly
$170,000 in providing LEAs access to Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public
Policy's Certificate in Education Finance, which equips participants with practical skills in
strategic fiscal management, policy analysis, and leadership. The Edunomics Lab will design and
conduct a two-day education finance training for up to 500 New Hampshire education leaders.
Learning will take place through a combination of interactive classroom instruction, self-
reflection, and hands-on practice. Participants will be guided through an examination of the
financial and related resource allocation issues that are integral parts of public education policy
in the United States; gain familiarity with budgets, spending-related policies, and data sources
for financial information; and wrestle with challenges of productivity and tradeoffs. Participants
will build fluency in how management decisions, wide-ranging policies, and resource allocation
intersect to impact student success across multiple contexts, including their own. Upon
completion of the first the two day course, selected participates will be eligible to participate in
advanced training to achieve a Certificate in Education Finance (CEF), paid for by the SEA.
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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, 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.
SEA Response
To ensure LEAs meet such federal ARP ESSER statutory and regulatory requirements and at the
request of LEAs, the SEA provided:
• “LEA Plan on the Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services”
optional template;
• “LEA ARP ESSER Plan: ‘A Plan for the LEA's Use of ARP ESSER funds’” initial
template; and
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• “LEA ARP ESSER Plan: ‘A Plan for the LEA's Use of ARP ESSER funds’” six-month
update template.
All templates are intended to assist LEAs in meeting with federal statutory and regulatory
requirements. Following publication of each template, the SEA conducted a dedicated webinar
with all school district superintendents.
Relevant templates, webinars, and due dates are clearly posted on our ARP ESSER webpage:
The “LEA ARP ESSER Plan: ‘A Plan for the LEA's Use of ARP ESSER funds’” template
includes:
i. The extent to which (a description and total funds designated) the LEA plans to use
funds to implement prevention and mitigation strategies aligned with each of the
CDC health and safety strategies in table B1 in SY 2021-2022. Such components of
the school district use of funds plan will be evaluated for completeness.
ii. Total funds reserved (totaling not less than 20 percent of the LEA’s total allocation of
ARP ESSER funds) and descriptions (including level of evidence in the interventions
chosen) for SY 2021-2022 of how the LEA plans to use funds reserved to address the
academic impact of lost instructional time through the implementation of evidence-
based learning loss interventions, as required under section 2001(e)(1) of ARPA.
Such evidence-based learning loss interventions may include summer learning or
summer enrichment, extended day, comprehensive afterschool programs, or extended
school year programs. Such components of the school district use of funds plan will
be evaluated for compliance with statutory requirements and completeness.
iii. Descriptions (categorized by the statutory language in section 2001(e)(2)(A-R) of
ARPA and including level of evidence in the interventions chosen if applicable) for
SY 2021-2022 of how the LEA plans to its remaining ARP ESSER funds. Such
components of the school district use of funds plan will be evaluated for compliance
with statutory requirements and completeness.
iv. Descriptions of how the interventions it implements will respond to the academic,
social, emotional, and mental health needs of all students and those particularly those
students disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, including
specifically students from low-income families, students of color, English learners,
children with disabilities, students experiencing homelessness, children and youth in
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foster care, and migratory students. Such components of the school district use of
funds plan will be evaluated for completeness.
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:
v. Tribes;
vi. Civil rights organizations (including disability rights organizations); and
vii. 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 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.
SEA Response
As described immediately above, to ensure LEAs meet such federal ARP ESSER statutory and
regulatory requirements and at the request of LEAs, the SEA provided:
• “LEA Plan on the Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services”
optional template;
• “LEA ARP ESSER Plan: ‘A Plan for the LEA's Use of ARP ESSER funds’” initial
template; and
• “LEA ARP ESSER Plan: ‘A Plan for the LEA's Use of ARP ESSER funds’” six-month
update template.
All templates are intended to assist LEAs in meeting with federal statutory and regulatory
requirements. Following publication of each template, the SEA conducted a dedicated webinar
with all school district superintendents.
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All “LEA ARP ESSER Plan: ‘A Plan for the LEA's Use of ARP ESSER funds’” and “LEA Plan
on the Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services” templates include:
• Affirmation (yes, no, or not applicable) and description (extent of the consultation and
when it occurred relative to finalization of the plan) of how the LEA met the federal
regulatory requirement to engage in meaningful consultation with stakeholders,
including, but not limited to:
o students;
o families;
o teachers, principals, school leaders, other educators, school staff, and their unions;
o school and district administrators (including special education administrators);
o Tribes and Tribal organizations, if applicable;
o civil rights organizations (including disability rights organizations); and
o 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.
Such components of the school district use of funds plan will be evaluated for
completeness.
• Affirmation (yes or no) and description (input trends, when it occurred relative to
finalization of the plan, and how it was utilized) of public input in the development of the
school district use of funds plan. Such components of the school district use of funds plan
will be evaluated for completeness.
Additionally, in the “LEA ARP ESSER Plan: ‘A Plan for the LEA's Use of ARP ESSER funds’”
six-month update template, LEAs must provide for each stakeholder group a description of the
meaningful consultation including the number of total responses, the uses consulted on, a
description of the feedback received, and how the consultation was inclusive, widely advertised
and available, and ongoing.
In addition to the new SEA processes described above, as part of the SEA’s Grant Management
System (GMS), LEAs provide a plan for the use of funds. Such plans form the basis for the
activities of the LEA and are dynamic in that districts report completed plan activities and have
the ability to modify plans throughout the grant period. This provides the SEA with real-time
engagement with the plan completion and serves as a type of programmatic monitoring
throughout the grant period. In addition to this monitoring, the SEA also has a fiscal monitoring
program to ensure that LEAs are expending and reporting funds usage according to the plan and
allowable uses. Though the use of the SEA GMS, the SEA will continue to monitor grant activity
against plan throughout the grant period.
3. Describe how the SEA will support and monitor its LEAs in using ARP ESSER
funds. The description must include:
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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;
SEA Response
Through technical assistance and training, the SEA will support the LEAs in the development of
plans for the deployment of LEA ARP/ESSER funds. Topics that the SEA will cover with LEAs
include how to target support for the students most affected by COVID-19, reengage students
following the pandemic, address learning loss, collect and use stakeholder feedback, and use
evidence-based programs. The SEA will use its regular communications channels with LEAs,
including a monthly Commissioner call and a monthly senior staff call with all school district
superintendents, to provide assistance as well as special sessions to specifically address
ARP/ESSER questions and topics. The SEA will also continue to facilitate communities of
practice, which provides opportunities for LEAs to discuss relevant topics with each other.
Lastly, the SEA will provide an LEA template for LEAs to develop their own plans, including
describing the use of evidence-based programs, and the SEA will review each LEA plan for
completeness.
Once planned, the SEA can continue to support LEAs in the management of those funds through
the GMS processes. In the GMS process, LEAs provide a plan for the use of funds. Such plans
form the basis for the activities of the LEA and are dynamic in that districts report completed
plan activities and have the ability to modify plans throughout the grant period. This provides the
SEA with real-time engagement with the plan completion and serves as a type of programmatic
monitoring throughout the grant period. In addition to this monitoring, the SEA also has a fiscal
monitoring program to ensure that LEAs are expending and reporting funds usage according to
the plan and allowable uses, including meeting the requirement that a portion of funds are used
to support evidence-based programs. Through the use of the SEA GMS, the SEA will continue to
monitor grant activity against the plan throughout the grant period. In the event an LEA fails to
spend in accordance with its plan or to use the correct percentage of funds on evidence-based
programs, the SEA will use its normal monitoring and enforcement mechanisms to ensure
compliance, which can include sanctions or recovery of funds.
ii. How the SEA will support and monitor its LEAs in specifically
addressing the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on certain
groups of students, including each of the student groups listed in question
A.3.i.-viii; and
SEA Response
57
Through technical assistance and training, the SEA will support the LEAs in the development of
plans for the deployment of LEA ARP/ESSER funds. Topics that the SEA will cover with
LEAs include how to target support for the students most affected by COVID-19. The SEA will
provide an LEA template for LEAs to develop their own plans, including a requirement for
information about how each LEA will address the students most affected by COVID-19.
The GMS monitoring process described above ensures that the plan is implemented as written,
including support for the students most affected by COVID-19. In the event an LEA fails to
spend in accordance with its plan, the SEA will use its normal monitoring and enforcement
mechanisms to ensure compliance, which can include sanctions or recovery of funds.
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.
SEA Response
Through technical assistance and training, the SEA will support the LEAs in the development of
plans for the deployment of LEA ARP/ESSER funds. Topics that the SEA will cover with LEAs
include how to reengage students after COVID-19 and address learning loss. The SEA will
provide an LEA template for LEAs to develop their own plans. including a requirement for
information about how each LEA will reengage students and address learning loss.
The GMS monitoring process described above ensures that the plan is implemented as written,
including reengaging students after COVID-19 and addressing learning loss. In the event an
LEA fails to spend in accordance with its plan, the SEA will use its normal monitoring and
enforcement mechanisms to ensure compliance, which can include sanctions or recovery of
funds.
New Hampshire has available rich data regarding student performance that it intends to share
with LEAs. New Hampshire anticipates full administration in spring 2021 of the summative
assessments for English Language Arts, Mathematics and Science for grades 3-8 and grade 11.
In addition, the ELP assessment, ACCESS 2.0, was fully administered in 2020 and 2021,
allowing NH to derive academic impact data for English language learners. NH also
administered an interim summative assessment in ELA and math in fall 2020.
With this information, it will be possible to target interventions toward those schools and
students whose learning was interrupted by the pandemic.
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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 :
i. Allocating funding both to schools and for districtwide activities based on
student need, and
SEA Response
Consistent with the SEA’s belief in local control of education, the SEA will continue to
empower LEAs to utilize their ARP ESSER and other allocations to best serve the needs of their
students, families, and teachers. In sharing best practices with LEAs through webinars and
individual technical assistance, the SEA will encourage LEAs to allocate funds to schools on a
per-pupil basis weighted by individual student need, including but not limited to low-income
students, students with disabilities, English learners, students experiencing homelessness,
children and youth in foster care, and migratory students. Such LEA implementation strategies
both empower school leaders with some autonomy in administering these unprecedented
resources and ensure transparency in administering funds based on student need. Through these
mechanisms, the SEA also encourages expenditures on districtwide activities that prioritize
students with the greatest needs.
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.
SEA Response
Currently all schools in New Hampshire are open for full-time, in-person instruction, helping to
ensure every student has access to an appropriate education.
With or without the pandemic, the SEA as well as LEAs are keenly focused on avoiding
exclusionary practices. LEAs report annually to the State Board of Education on suspension,
restraint, bullying and other practices that might have an unintended effect of excluding certain
students disproportionately. This information is tracked on the SEA website and made public, as
illustrated in this screen capture below.
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In addition to general trend information, the SEA also tracks this data across subgroups, both for
the state and at the LEA level providing further transparency to potentially exclusionary
practices.
60
The same supports that are used to avoid such outcomes outside of the pandemic remain in force
to ensure that all students equally access their education.
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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”)
educators; career and technical education (“CTE”) educators; early childhood
educators). Cite specific data on shortages and needs where available.
Complete the table below, changing or adding additional rows as
needed, or provide a narrative description.
SEA Response
New Hampshire has the lowest unemployment rate in the nation. Even before the pandemic, the
state had consistently low unemployment, making recruiting, including recruitment in
education, both difficult and a priority for the SEA and LEAs.
Annually, the SEA surveys LEAs to assess recruitment activities. This feedback helps formulate
policy decisions to aid LEAs in educator recruitment. For example, aside from teachers with an
elementary educator certification, the state annually publishes a critical shortage list that
includes all other teacher positions.
During the pandemic, working with the Department of Employment Security, a new recruitment
portal was established for educators and school leaders were trained in its use. As a result of
these and other efforts, positions identified as difficult to fill are, in most cases, filled with high
quality individuals.
Looking forward, the SEA is exploring opportunities to target IDEA State Personnel
Development Grant and Title II School Administrator and Principal funds to support the teacher
pipeline, including through coaching and mentorship, with an emphasis on special education.
Table F1.
Area Data on shortages and needs
Special educators and related service Over 50% of open positions were deemed ‘difficult
personnel and paraprofessionals to fill’ by the LEAs
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Bilingual educators Over 90% of open positions were deemed ‘difficult
to fill’ by the LEAs
English as a second language educators SEA do not survey for this
STEM educators Over 40% of open positions in STEM were deemed
‘difficult to fill’ by the LEAs
CTE educators Over 45% of open positions in CTE were deemed
‘difficult to fill’ by the LEAs
Early childhood educators No shortage in this area
School counselors No shortage in this area
Social workers About 50% of open positions were deemed ‘difficult
to fill’ by the LEAs
Nurses SEA do not survey for this
School psychologists 60% of open positions were deemed ‘difficult to fill’
by the LEAs
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.
SEA Response
The SEA has a critical shortage reporting process whereby LEAs report shortages to the SEA
and the SEA correlates that information to open job postings in the state. Because the pandemic
effect has not been as severe in New Hampshire and there has been a robust economic recovery
throughout 2020-2021, LEAs have not had to resort to broad layoffs as a means of balancing
budgets.
Further, as part of the pandemic response, the governor’s office issued Emergency Order 38,
Temporary modification of school board and district statutory requirements. Under this
Emergency Order, “2. If a school district's budget is insufficient to fund expenditures associated
with addressing the COVID-19 pandemic, the governing body is authorized, once authorization
from the Department of Education ("DOE") has been obtained, to make such expenditure to the
extent other revenues or unrestricted fund balance are available to meet those expenses. During
the current health emergency, the public hearing requirement under RSA 32:11, I, for the
expenditure of money in excess of an appropriation due to an unusual circumstance is hereby
waived. The governing body must still submit an application to the DOE Commissioner
pursuant to RSA 32: 11, I, and a copy of such application to the SEA of Revenue
Administration pursuant to RSA 3 2: 11, IV. Upon approval by the governing body to submit an
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application to DOE for an over expenditure, DOE shall review the application and notify the
requesting governing body of its decision within 2 business days of DOE's receipt of the
application. Applications to DOE can be submitted by email to the Director of the Division of
Education Analytics and Resources of the DOE.”
Where needed, LEAs were able to use this Emergency Order to adequately fund operations.
This included, where necessary, using emergency response funds to avoid layoffs, both for
educators as well as contracted support staff.
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).
SEA Response
Teacher shortages were present even prior to the pandemic. As a result of that, the SEA had
already begun alternative credentialing processes, with the goal of attracting qualified
individuals outside of the school system and traditional educator preparation pathways. One of
the advantages of expanding alternative credentials pathways is the ability to attract a broader
and more diverse workforce. During the pandemic, these rules were implemented to offer the
LEAs great recruitment flexibility. Further, Emergency Order #64, Temporary Remote
Instruction and Support and Hybrid Instruction for K-12 School Districts provided LEAs
additional flexibility during the state of emergency to meet staffing needs. The order states,
“RSA 189:39-b, V and Ed Rule 504.04(f) are suspended for the duration of the State of
Emergency declared in Executive Order 2020-04. A school board, in consultation with the
superintendent, may offer a One-Year Certificate of Eligibility to an individual in accordance
with the provisions of RSA 189:39-b, I-IV without regard to whether the individual has
previously received a One-Year Certificate of Eligibility. Any One-Year Certificate of
Eligibility issued by the NH SEA of Education pursuant to this paragraph 4 shall be effective
for one calendar year from the date of issuance."
3. 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).
64
SEA Response
Emergency Order #64, Temporary Remote Instruction and Support and Hybrid Instruction for
K-12 School Districts provided LEAs additional flexibility during the state of emergency to meet
staffing needs, referenced above also provided a strong framework to ensure that students with
disabilities and, by inference, students needing additional support services, must be granted
access to those services, in-person, where that is appropriate. The Emergency Order states,
“School districts are required adhere to all state and federal special education law requirements,
including without limitation the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and Section 504 of
the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, in the delivery of instruction and support services pursuant to any
offered instructional model, including without limitation, traditional instruction, distance
learning, and hybrid models, consistent with US Department of Education Guidance. In fulfilling
their obligations pursuant to Ed 1100, et seq., school districts who have selected a remote
instructional model for their general education population shall not exclude in-person services
from consideration for students with disabilities. In-person services should be provided if such
services are necessitated by the student's individualized needs and consistent with the health and
safety needs of the child, child's teachers, and child's family.”
In support of schools working to effectively provide these services, specific guidance was
developed for the provision of in-person services, even in some of the most challenging
circumstances.
Knowing that the retention and recruitment of qualified staff is a challenge to many LEAs, the
SEA collaborated with the Department of Employment security to implement an educator
specific recruitment portal. This allowed LEAs to post specific positions, both educators and
support staff, to help facilitate the recruiting process throughout the pandemic. This portal is still
active and will remain so, even post pandemic.
65
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,
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;
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);
iii. Fiscal data that is comparable across the State (e.g., per-pupil
expenditures at the LEA and school levels);
iv. Jobs created and retained (by position type);
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).
SEA Response
The SEA has comprehensive beginning-of-year (BOY) and end-of-year (EOY) data collection
processes. Further, there are interim data collections that include specific information as allowed
by mid-year data collection.
Using our annual data collection processes will allow us to capture data regarding student
learning, engagement, access, fiscal data, and other relevant data to the greatest extent
66
practicable, particularly in light of the fact that the state does not currently have a statewide data
system.
As part of the EOY data collection for 2021-2022, additional data have been requested by LEAs
to help provide and enhance our understanding of student learning during the pandemic and how
we can implement programming in response to it, including instructional mode and attendance
information by student, including subgroup and by mode of instruction throughout school year
2021-2022.
Additionally, in its “LEA ARP ESSER Plan: ‘A Plan for the LEA's Use of ARP ESSER funds’”
initial template, NHED requested LEAs report:
How the LEA will identify individual student learning loss, including among students
most likely to have experienced the impact of lost instructional time on student learning,
such as:
a. Students who did not consistently participate in remote instruction when offered during
school building closures;
b. Students who have missed the most in-person instruction during the 2019-2020 and
2020-2021 school years; and
c. Students most at-risk of dropping out of school.
In its “LEA ARP ESSER Plan: ‘A Plan for the LEA's Use of ARP ESSER funds’” six-month
update template, the SEA also requested LEAs provide Budget and Data Reporting, including
“Quantifiable Measurement of Expected Outcomes Resulting from Use.”
The SEA will continue its enhanced data collection as schools deploy ARP/ESSER funds to both
understand how these funds are addressing the impact of COVID-19 and to meet the reporting
requirements of the Secretary. In our initial discussions with LEAs relative to the enhanced data
collections, a number of districts have indicated challenges with additional data collections,
including administrative burden, system limitations, and data quality. As part of our theory of
action for change in New Hampshire, we respect the prioritization decisions of local school
system leaders, including whether to undertake new data collections or to make investments in
updating data systems versus other investments that may more immediately respond to
pandemic-related or other needs. However, the SEA is firmly committed to meeting all of its
data requirements under all applicable federal laws and regulations, as are its LEAs, including
collection, disaggregation, and public reporting through its iPlatform. The SEA’s iPlatform is a
robust data reporting tool used for telling education data stories from schools/districts. The
concept behind this portal is to enhance transparency and stimulate community conversations
with parents, districts, legislators, and others about the state of their local school systems.
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
67
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.
SEA Response
The SEA’s Bureau of Federal Compliance (BFC) provides consolidated fiscal monitoring of all
LEAs to address potential sources of waste, fraud, and abuse. The BFC completes annual
subrecipient risk assessments, undertakes extensive LEA fiscal monitoring (using multiple
methods), provides both SEA Program Administrators and subrecipients with training and
technical assistance resources related to the proper fiscal management (internal controls) of
Federal grant funds, and implements enforcement actions when necessary all in general
accordance with the requirements of 2 CFR 200. The ARP ESSER grant subrecipients will be
included in the BFC’s annual LEA risk assessments and its established fiscal monitoring
program.
All ARP ESSER fund subrecipients will be folded into the BFC’s current risk assessment and
monitoring framework. In addition, given the nuances of some of the compliance requirements
around the use of ARP ESSER funds, the BFC will be incorporating specific ARP ESSER risk
variables in its LEA risk assessments. These risk assessments will be completed in July of 2021
to inform the BFC’s 2021-2022 school year fiscal monitoring program.
In addition to providing LEAs with general technical assistance on Federal compliance
requirements (procurement, inventory control, cost principles, etc.), the BFC also develops
program specific technical assistance resources on an as-needed basis to assist subrecipients in
their management of Federal grant funds. The BFC anticipates this will also be the case with the
ARP ESSER funds. The BFC delivers written technical assistance to LEAs through the
development and distribution of Fact Sheets and Info Sheets on specific compliance topics,
regional training, and the development of on-line resources. Lastly, being a relatively small state,
the BFC finds conducting individual technical assistance site visits at LEAs to be extremely
beneficial to both the SEA and the LEA.
SEA has established an office dedicated to the support and implementation of ESSER funds.
Personnel provide direct technical assistance to LEAs, averaging 20+ direct conversations and
meetings with LEAs per week, in addition to providing webinars and PowerPoint presentations.
Additionally, the office has built webpages specific to each ESSER fund to provide Federal grant
documentation and State-specific documentation.
CARES ESSER: https://www.education.nh.gov/who-we-are/division-of-learner-
support/bureau-of-instructional-support/cares-act-funding
CRRSA ESSER: https://www.education.nh.gov/who-we-are/division-of-learner-
support/bureau-of-instructional-support/crrsa-esser-ii-coronavirus
68
ARP ESSER: https://www.education.nh.gov/american-rescue-plan-act-elementary-and-
secondary-school-emergency-relief-fund
Four initial webinars were provided clarity and insight to the ESSER funds for each grant, the
EOY data collection and the data collection to support the ARP ESSER State Application.
PowerPoint presentations are available on the webpages, listed above. A PowerPoint was not
provided for the EOY data collection.
CRRSA ESSER: https://www.education.nh.gov/sites/g/files/ehbemt326/files/inline-
documents/sonh/esser-ii-nh-faqs.pdf
ARP ESSER: https://www.education.nh.gov/sites/g/files/ehbemt326/files/inline-
documents/sonh/esser-iii-webinar.pdf
ARP ESSER Data Collection:
https://www.education.nh.gov/sites/g/files/ehbemt326/files/inline-documents/sonh/esser-
iii-data-collection-webinar.pdf
Since June 2021, five additioanl webinars were held on the ARP ESSER LEA Plan for Safe
Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services (Reopening Plan), ARP ESSER, ARP
ESSER LEA Plan for the Use of Funds, and Maintenance of Equity (MOEq).
ARP ESSER LEA Plan for the Use of Funds, Initial Plan:
https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/play/JQilI_daf-
ayH2BEMbDpfkNV5soZzjdQGUhjI4C5Kiq4l0HzWEoKFW0maaH6YumA-
dqduX_ii8HlQcXg.4DP5jQnqPll-bDvB
ARP ESSER LEA Plan for the Use of Funds, Six-month Update Plan:
https://mm.nh.gov/media/education/arp-esser-lea-funds-plan-update-20220127.m4v
MOEq, Part I: https://mm.nh.gov/media/education/moeq-tracking-09232021.m4v
MOEq, Part II: https://mm.nh.gov/media/education/moeq-part-ii-10-12-2021.m4v
New Hampshire-specific FAQs were created and are continuously updated to provide insight
from USED for New Hampshire-specific questions and direct examples of allowable uses of
funds implemented by LEAs across the State.
CRRSA ESSER: https://www.education.nh.gov/sites/g/files/ehbemt326/files/inline-
documents/sonh/esser-ii-nh-faqs.pdf
ARP ESSER: https://www.education.nh.gov/sites/g/files/ehbemt326/files/inline-
documents/sonh/esser-iii-webinar.pdf
Best Practices in Implementing ARP ESSER LEA Use of Funds Plan: best-practices-arp-esser-
lea-fund-use-plan-meaningful-consultation-and-public-input-federal-requirements.pdf (nh.gov)
69
Local MOEq calculator: LEA-specific files directly provided to impacted LEAs
MOEq FAQs: https://www.education.nh.gov/sites/g/files/ehbemt326/files/inline-
documents/sonh/maintenance-of-equity-webinar-q-and-a.docx
MOEq FAQs continued: https://www.education.nh.gov/sites/g/files/ehbemt326/files/inline-
documents/sonh/maintenance-of-equity-part-ii-qas-10-12-2021.docx
MOEq Sample Demo File: https://www.education.nh.gov/sites/g/files/ehbemt326/files/inline-
documents/sonh/demo-sample-part-ii-local-moeq-budgeting-tool.xlsx
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Appendix A: School Operating Status and Instructional Mode Data Template
Indicate the date or time period represented by the following data.
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.
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).
SEA Response
Consistent with Governor Christopher Sununu’s Emergency Order #89, which came into effect
on April 19, 2021, all New Hampshire public schools reopened for in-person instruction in April
2021. Schools also offered families the option of continuing remote instruction, should they
choose.
At this time, the State Board of Education is finalizing a regulation aligned with the Governor’s
emergency order, which expired with the cessation of the state of emergency on May 7, 2021.
This regulation requires all schools to offer in-person instruction, 5-days per week. A school is
permitted to offer remote instruction to those students whose parents choose remote or hybrid
instruction. A school also is permitted to offer remote instruction to students that cannot attend
in-person instruction, including in cases where the student has contracted COVID-19, are a
household contact of someone with COVID-19 required to quarantine, or have other family
circumstances that prevent them from participating in in-person instruction; however, schools
are not required to provide remote instruction in such instances. Not providing in-person
instruction under these circumstances should be on a temporary basis, only until the
circumstances resolve (e.g., students recover from COVID-19).
Number of schools All schools Offered to all Offered to Not offered
students some students
Remote or online only 0 0 0 0
School buildings open with 464 464 0 0
both remote/online and in-
person instruction (hybrid)
School buildings open with 464 464 0 0
full-time in-person instruction
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Pre-kindergarten/Elementary 322 322 0 0
schools
Middle schools 74 74 0 0
High schools 98 98 0 0
Updated data will be available in October of 2022, noting that no schools are “remote or online
only” at this time with the exception of Virtual Learning Academy Charter School (VLACS),
New Hampshire’s statewide virtual charter school.
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Table 2
In the most recent time period available, what was the enrollment and mode of instruction for the
schools in your State?
SEA Response
The SEA does not have student enrollment data by mode of instruction and student subgroup.
This information will be required for districts to report as part of the school year 2021-2022
EOY data collection; this chart may be updated after that data becomes available in October
2022.
Number of Total Remote or online Both remote/online Full-time in-
students enrollment only and in-person person
instruction (hybrid) instruction
Students from 33786 6007 1206 26131
low-income
families
White, not 134814 28320 9445 93858
Hispanic
Black or 4183 1058 97 3000
African
American, not
Hispanic
Hispanic, of any 11638 3188 329 7970
race
Asian, not 6730 2759 254 3470
Hispanic
American 572 179 24 447
Indian or
Alaskan Native,
not Hispanic
Native 223 75 23 149
Hawaiian or
Pacific Islander,
not Hispanic
Two or more 4468 1136 337 290
races, not
Hispanic
Race/Ethnicity 1665 111 17 548
information not
available
English learners 5228 1266 65 3647
Children with 27651 5059 1856 21067
disabilities
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Number of Total Remote or online Both remote/online Full-time in-
students enrollment only and in-person person
instruction (hybrid) instruction
Students 2276 515 37 1728
experiencing
homelessness
Children and 8835 157 33 605
youth in foster
care
Migratory 102 13 [Suppressed] 87
students
The above data is based on an SEA special data request to inform the ARP ESSER State Plan.
The request was disseminated and a webinar was conducted on May 13, 2021. The request was
completed by June 1, 2021 with a return rate of 86%.
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Section 427 Compliance:
NHED fully complies with Section 427 of GEPA. Section 427 of GEPA highlights six types of
barriers that can impede equitable access or participation: gender, race, national origin, color,
disability, or age. The NHED takes the following proactive steps in order to mitigate barriers:
• NHED announces its programs through a variety of communication channels.
• NHED makes information available on its website in a variety of languages.
• NHED works with LEAs to make information on its programs specifically available to
Special Education teachers and administrators, whom in turn convey it to families.
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