Dear State Superintendent Wright — ARP ESSER State Plan, Mississippi (December 30, 2021)

Summary

This is a letter dated December 30, 2021 from the Secretary of Education to State Superintendent Carey Wright of the Mississippi Department of Education, approving Mississippi's American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ARP ESSER) State plan. It says the Department will immediately release the remaining one-third of the State's ARP ESSER allocation. It states that Mississippi indicated it has not yet finalized its evidence-based interventions, so the approval is conditioned on Mississippi amending its plan to provide the required descriptions. It adds that Mississippi must provide an update on its progress within 30 days of receipt of the letter.

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Full text

                                       THE SECRETARY OF EDUCATION
                                             WASHINGTON, DC 20202




                                           December 30, 2021


The Honorable Carey Wright, Ed.D.
State Superintendent of Education
Mississippi Department of Education
P.O. Box 771
Jackson, MS 39205-0771

Dear State Superintendent Wright:

I am pleased to approve Mississippi’s American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School
Emergency Relief (ARP ESSER) State plan. This plan, together with the unprecedented funding
available under ARP ESSER, will help support sustained access to in-person instruction and
address the social, emotional, mental health, and academic needs of students due to the impact of
the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), particularly those students most impacted by the
pandemic.

Except as described below, Mississippi’s plan is consistent with all ARP ESSER statutory and
regulatory requirements and addresses all of the ARP ESSER State plan elements. This letter,
along with Mississippi’s approved ARP ESSER State plan, will be posted on the U.S.
Department of Education’s (Department’s) website, and the Department will immediately release
the remaining one-third of your State’s ARP ESSER allocation for your use.

In its ARP ESSER State plan, a State educational agency (SEA) must describe how it will use
the funds it reserves under sections 2001(f)(1)-(3) of the ARP Act on evidence-based
interventions to address: (1) the academic impact of lost instructional time, (2) summer learning
and enrichment programs, and (3) comprehensive afterschool programs; and must describe how
the interventions it identifies will address the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on certain
groups of students. In its ARP ESSER State plan, Mississippi indicated that it has
not yet finalized its interventions. As a result, this approval is conditioned on
Mississippi 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.
In addition, Mississippi 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.

As part of the ARP ESSER State plan, each State assured that it would provide the
Department the URLs for information related to ARP ESSER requirements. First, by June 21,
2021, each State was required to post publicly on its website, for the most recent time
period available, data on mode of instruction and enrollment for all students, disaggregated
by student subgroups. The State assured that it would provide to the Department the URL(s)
where the public can readily find this data. The Department will follow up separately with you
regarding this requirement, if necessary. Second, your State assured that it would provide to the
Page 2 – The Honorable Carey Wright


Department the URL(s) for the SEA and/or local educational agency (LEA) websites where the
public can find the LEA plans for: (a) the safe return to in-person instruction and continuity of
services; and (b) use of ARP ESSER funds. Please submit the URL or URLs to the Department
via email to your State mailbox at Mississippi.OESE@ed.gov.

Please be aware that approval of Mississippi’s ARP ESSER State plan is not a determination that
all the information included in the State plan complies with Federal civil rights requirements,
including Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of
1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Title II of the Americans with Disabilities
Act, and requirements under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. It is Mississippi’s
responsibility to comply with these civil rights requirements.

The Department is committed to working in partnership with your State so that your ARP
ESSER funds are quickly put to work to ensure students have sustained access to in-person
instruction as well as the comprehensive supports they need to recover fully from the impacts of
the COVID-19 pandemic. As you implement this plan, we expect you to continue meaningfully
engaging with stakeholders and the public and revising your plan, as necessary, to best meet the
needs of students, parents, and educators. Ongoing engagement with all stakeholders is vital to
ensuring that implementation of your plan is transparent, effective, equitable, inclusive, and best
meets the needs of your State. The thoughtful, evidence-based, and timely use of ARP ESSER
funds will have a lasting impact on our Nation’s schools and help to address the inequities in
resources, services, and opportunities available to our students.


                                      Sincerely,

                                      /s/

                                      Miguel A. Cardona, Ed.D.


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