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Memo: ESSER Fund FY 2023 Annual Performance Report

Memos
March 15, 2024

View a PDF Version of this Memo

TO:                Superintendents and Business Managers         

FROM:          Heather Bouchey, Ph.D., Interim Secretary of Education

SUBJECT:     Elementary and Secondary Schools Emergency Relief Fund FY 2023
                      Annual Performance Report

DATE:            March 15, 2024

Purpose

By this memo you are notified that the Elementary and Secondary Schools Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund Fiscal Year 2023 Annual Performance Report (APR) will open on March 15, 2024. These reporting requirements apply to all recipients of ESSER I, II and ARP ESSER funds and are part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act of 2020.

The reporting window is March 15, 2024, to May 05, 2024. It is essential that all LEAs submit their APR by the deadline to ensure that the Agency of Education (AOE) can meet the federal deadline for reporting.

Data Collection Changes

This year’s data collection and reporting will be captured by our contractor, RESPEC, LLC. RESPEC will take on the role of facilitating the GEER Annual Performance Reporting and data collection through 2026.

The data collection will no longer be captured in the Grants Management System (GMS). Alternatively, the contractor has designed a web tool that will be used to capture all GEER APR reporting moving forward.

New Reporting Requirements

Year 4 (FY 23) reporting includes some new programmatic requirements and LEAs are asked to submit their own expenditure data. Comprehensive data is required to be submitted by states (SEAs) and LEAs regarding their usage of ESSER grant funds.​ This also includes LEAs who were subrecipients of ESSER state level grants.

                                    

Data response types in Year 4 include a combination of Y/N (or True/False), open-ended responses (as applicable), and student count and demographic data for specific programs.​

Next Steps and Resources

To support this data collection, the AOE has created a slide deck containing key changes to this year’s ESSER APR Data Collection and an accounting guide that can be used to cross reference the survey questions regarding the use of ESSER funds with accounting codes. In addition, the AOE and the contractor will host weekly office hours throughout the duration of the reporting period beginning March 21, 2024, and recurring every Thursday from noon -1 p.m.

To ensure a timely response, all questions regarding the Annual Performance Report should be directed to Jerry Lacy at jerry.lacy@partner.vermont.gov.