Kane County Reporter

ESSER funding, or Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funding, is federally funded grants that are given to school districts to help fund areas hit hardest by the COVID pandemic. The first round was signed in March of 2020, with a second round in 2021 and now a third round of ESSER funds in 2022.

The West Aurora school district spent their ESSER 1 funds, which were around $2.8 million. Their ESSER 2 funding was about $10.5 million and was mostly spent, though some rolled into the next year. The incoming round of ESSER funds totals about $27 million. That funding will have to be spent by the end of August 2024.

“There has been talk of extending the program because there's a significant amount of money with it and districts are kind of having discussions on making sure that it's enough time to spend the money wisely,” said Ryan Abrahamson, director of Finance with West Aurora School District.

The district plans to use funding for clean and healthy learning environments in the school, increased parents and student engagement, about 20% of the funding will be allocated to address learning loss, about a million dollars will be sent towards their after-school programs and summer school programs as well. The spending plans of the district are approved by the state.

In 2020, Congress allocated around $13.2 billion of the $30.75 billion to the Education Stabilization Fund through the Coronavirus Aid Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act for the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER) Fund. The grants were given to state educational agencies (SEAs) for the purpose of providing local educational agencies (LEAs), including charter schools that are LEAs, with emergency relief funds to soften the impact of COVID-19 had on the educational system nationwide. For more information on ESSER awards, please visit the Award Resources page.