Skip to main content
An Official Vermont Government Website

American Rescue Plan (ARP) Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund

Overview

The American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act of 2021, Public Law 117-2, was enacted on March 11, 2021. The ARP Act provided significant additional funding for educational entities to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, including the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds (ARP ESSER).

Similar to the earlier CARES and CRRSA Acts, states will receive ARP ESSER funds based on their share of Title I funding. Ninety percent of funds received by an SEA must be allocated to LEAs based on each LEA’s Title I share, leaving 10 percent for SEA-level activities.

  • Total award to Vermont: $285,164,208
  • Total award to LEAs: $256,647,724
  • The period of performance for ARP ESSER is March 13, 2020 – September 30, 2024.
  • The allowable costs for ARP ESSER are the same as those for ESSER (other specific details for ESSER/ESSER II/ESSER III can be found in Fact Sheet from the US Department of Education.
  • There is no Equitable Services Requirement for ARP ESSER.
  • ARP ESSER funds must be tracked separately from ESSER I and II funds.
  • There are important requirements for LEAs and the SEA in how funds must be spent and what reports/plans must be made available (outlined below).

The ARP ESSER funds are considered a federal formula grant. Due to the nature of these funds, the Agency is approving pre-award costs as of March 13, 2020, resulting in a period of performance start date of March 13, 2020 and an end date of September 30, 2024.

ARP ESSER Liquidation Extension

ARP ESSER Spending Mandates

Unlike the previous rounds of ESSER funding (ESSER I and ESSER II), ARP ESSER funds include specific requirements and spending mandates. 

LEA Requirements

  • LEA use of ARP ESSER funds: Of the total amount allocated to an LEA from the State’s ARP ESSER award, the LEA must reserve at least 20 percent of funds to address learning loss through the implementation of evidence-based interventions and ensure that those interventions respond to students’ social, emotional, and academic needs and address the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on underrepresented student subgroups (each major racial and ethnic group, children from low-income families, children with disabilities, English learners, gender, migrant students, students experiencing homelessness, and children and youth in foster care).
  • LEA Safe Return to In-Person Instruction Plan: An LEA that receives ARP ESSER funds must, within 30 days of receiving the funds, make publicly available on its website a plan for the safe return to in-person instruction and continuity of services. Before making the plan publicly available, the LEA must seek public comment on the plan.
    • If an LEA has developed a plan for the safe return to in-person instruction before March 11, 2021 that meets the requirements described in above, this plan could serve in place of a new plan. AOE will provide more guidance on this process.

Maintenance of Equity:

SEA Requirements

  • The ARP ESSER Fund includes three State-level reservations for activities and interventions that respond to students’ academic, social, and emotional needs and address the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on underrepresented student subgroups, including each major racial and ethnic group, children from low-income families, children with disabilities, English learners, gender, migrant students, students experiencing homelessness, and children and youth in foster care:   
    • 5% of the total ARP ESSER allocation ($14,258,000) for the implementation of evidence-based interventions aimed specifically at addressing learning loss, such as summer learning or summer enrichment, extended day, comprehensive afterschool programs, or extended school year programs.
    • 1% of the total ARP ESSER allocation ($2,852,000) for evidence-based summer enrichment programs.
    • 1% of the total ARP ESSER allocation ($2,852,000) for evidence-based comprehensive afterschool programs
    • A State may use up to ½ of 1 percent of its total ARP ESSER allocation ($1,426,000) for administrative costs and emergency needs as determined by the State to address issues related to COVID-19.
    • The remaining funds may be used for emergency needs as determined by the state educational agency (AOE) to address issues in responding to COVID-19.

Strategic Use of ESSER Funds

In budgeting ARP ESSER funds, LEAs should treat the funds as non-recurring, emergency aid and avoid building in programmatic costs that may not be sustainable after the period of performance ends. LEAs might consider how a need that is likely to be long term could be better met with other federal funding to ensure strategic and sustainable use. Specific information and examples are available in the ESSER II guidance and Federal Education Funding Planning Guidance.

Key Dates

  • March 13, 2020- Period of Performance begins
  • March 24, 2021—Vermont received initial grant award for two thirds of the total allocation (see ARP ESSER Grant Award Allocation)
  • May 24, 2021 – LEAs complete Phase I of ARP ESSER grant application, per federal requirement
  • July 16, 2021 —Agency of Education releases draft plan of ARP ESSER State Plan for stakeholder and public comment
  • Late July, Early August, 2021 – Vermont Senate and House Education Committees meet with Agency of Education on ARP ESSER State Plan
  • August 13, 2021 – Close of public comment on ARP ESSER State Plan
  • December 3, 2021 -- Agency of Education submits final version of ARP ESSER State Plan to US Department of Education for Approval
  • December 29, 2021 – US Department of Education releases remaining one third of ARP ESSER allocation
  • January 4, 2022 – ARP ESSER Phase II Application released to LEAs
  • November 1, 2022 – Fully budgeted ARP ESSER Phase II Application due to AOE
  • December 29, 2022—Deadline to have approved grant award
  • September 30, 2024—Close of the Period of Performance.
  • November 30, 2024 - Final Invoices Due to AOE​

AOE Guidance

US Department of Education Guidance

Application

Creating and Editing the Application in the Grant Management System

All district administrators (superintendents) and business managers have permissions in the GMS to create and edit the application. If desired, a district administrator can delegate the ability to create and edit the application to additional staff, by assigning the role "leaCARES" to any staff members with a GMS account. See the GMS login page's Training section for the four page instructions and the User Management for District Administrators training video to learn how to assign this role. Note that, as with all other grant applications, only the district administrator can agree to assurances and do the final submission to the Agency of Education.