Kane County Reporter

The Kaneland Board of Education recently discussed how addressing the learning loss from the COVID-19 pandemic and strengthening remote learning systems should be prioritized in the allocation of the roughly $1,276,000 in remaining ESSER (elementary and secondary school emergency relief) funds.

“The government primarily wants you to use the money to bridge the learning loss gap from when the students were at home,” Kaneland Community Schools Assistant Superintendent Julie Fuchs said at the March 13 board meeting. “Groups such as those who are homeless, (students with) disabilities, racial and ethnic minorities, English learners and children and youth in foster care. So if you can target any of the moneys for those specific populations, that would be ideal. You can also use it for cleaning and sanitizing purposes. You can use it for educational technology so that if we need to go remote for whatever reason, students are ready to do that. That can be both on hardware, software and connectivity, making sure that our network is strong and secure.”

The district has already spent $154,000 on PPE (personal protective equipment), cleaning supplies, water bottle stations, remote learning operations, and $519 on more PPE for specialized classes, ongoing COVID-19 testing supplies, enhanced cleaning, and more remote learning items. The $1,276,139 in additional ESSER funds must be spent by September of 2024. Aside from helping learning loss and improving remote learning, the money can also be used for mental health support and services, assessments to provide data and analyses for parents and teachers, and HVAC and building improvement projects.

Board members talked about possibly hiring a social worker or emotional support personnel for just one year as part of the recovery, though staffing is not generally recommended for ESSER funds. The district is looking at using a portion of the funds for HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) projects as many systems in the buildings are reaching the end of their life.

The district is seeking public input on how the money should be spent and will continue to take feedback through April. The board will then post the plan for its ESSER funds and take comments for 30 days afterwards.