ESSER III Spending Plans

The federal government has passed three major relief packages in response to COVID-19. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES), the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSA), and the American Rescue Plan Act (ARP). All included funding for K-12 education. The Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) is administering multiple grant opportunities from these three relief packages, including three rounds of formula-based Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding that districts eligible for Title I, Part A funds received.  

Here are the amounts of money allocated to each district or charter school in each round of ESSER funding:
The American Rescue Plan that contains ESSER III funding and the Interim Final Rule that accompanies it has some requirements about planning and reporting processes for districts and charter schools. Below is a brief description of those requirements and where to find the related documentation for each district or charter school.  

ARP ESSER III Planning and Reporting Requirements

The ESSER III funds to Local Education Agency (LEAs) is comprised of two buckets that schools apply for and spend under separate finance codes (FIN) – 160 and 161. Each LEA is required to spend 20% of the total ESSER III award to address the impact of lost learning time with a focus on programming that happens in addition to the standard school day (by adding time to the regular school day or for services during the summer); Minnesota calls this portion of the funds “FIN161.”  The remaining 80% of ESSER III funds are less restricted and can be used for any number of activities that are necessary for an LEA to prevent, prepare for, and respond to COVID-19; Minnesota calls this portion of the funds “FIN160.”  
 
The American Rescue Plan and the federal government’s Interim Final Rule outline the requirements regarding spending ESSER III funds and public reporting.  The Minnesota Department of Education reviewed FIN160 and FIN161 plans from 476 districts and charters receiving ESSER III funds. Since LEAs must publicly share the following aspects of their plans, MDE has linked below to the FIN160 & FIN161 applications for these funds where these requirements are met. 
 
  1. Community Engagement - in developing its plans for spending ESSER III funds, districts and charters must engage in meaningful consultations with students, families and other stakeholders, including those representing the interests of specific student groups, including:
    • Students receiving special education services
    • Multi-lingual learners
    • In each racial and ethnic group
    • From low income families
    • American Indian Parent Advisory Committee (AIPAC)

    2. This engagement is documented in the FIN160 application in “Part B, Section 2: ESSER III Spending Plan Community Engagement” and in the FIN161 application in “Part B: Identifying Assets and Needs” 

  2. Tribal Consultation - based on enrollment and amounts of other funding sources, some districts and charters are required by federal and state regulations to consult on the use of some federal education funds. MDE requires these LEAs to also consult regarding these ESSER III funds with their nearest Tribal Nation or the state wide Tribal Nations Education Committee (TNEC). This consultation and related findings are documented in the FIN160 application in “Part B, Section 3: ESSER III Spending Plan Tribal Consultation”
  3. “Safe Return to in Person Learning Plans” - every district and charter school is required to publicly post its policies and procedures for managing the risks of COVID-19 exposure for students and staff. Links to these plans can be found in the FIN160 application in “Part B, Section 1: Safe Return to In-Person Learning Plan – Required Public Comment.” MDE has also separately compiled these plans for each district and charter school. Districts are required to update these plans at least every six months, providing a public comment period with each update.
  4. Spending Plans - after identifying needs for students, LEAs must describe their plans for spending, including specifics about (i) their plans to spend on COVID-related health and safety, (ii) 20% of funds to address the impact of lost learning time, and (iii) plans for the more flexible 80%.  Some of this funding fits in identified state education priorities; the Funding State Education Priorities with ESSER III (FIN160 & FIN161) document describes those priorities. Additionally, the Interim Final Rule requires these plans to describe (iv) “how the LEA will ensure that the interventions will respond to the academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs of students disproportionally impacted by the pandemic (including students from low-income families, students of color, English learners, children with disabilities, students experiencing homelessness, children in foster care, and migratory students).” 
     
    The description of these spending plan requirements is found in the FIN160 application in “Part C: Funding State Education Priorities” and “Part D: Funding Other Needs” and in the FIN161 application in “Part C: Funding the Learning Recovery Plan and State Education Priorities.”   

Links to LEA ESSER III (FIN160 and FIN161) Plans

Below are the FIN160 & FIN161 applications for the ARP ESSER III (FIN160 and Fin161) funds where the above public reporting requirements are met. LEAs with an application status of “under process” are still working through the approval process with MDE.  
 
For more information about the planned spending or community engagement for each district or charter school, please contact the LEA contact identified in the FIN160 application in “Part A: Local Educational Agency (LEA) Program Contact Information.”


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LEA Number LEA Name Total ESSER III 90% Allocation (FIN160+FIN161) Application Status FIN160 FIN161 Plan Amendments