Ohio’s strategic plan for education, Each Child, Our Future, puts the whole child at the center, where each component of the plan works harmoniously to support a whole-child approach. Likewise, Ohio’s Whole Child Framework also places the whole child at the center, with the district, school, family, and community supporting the needs of the whole child using a comprehensive approach. A whole child approach broadens district and school focus beyond academics to include meeting students' social-emotional, physical, and safety needs. The Whole Child Framework provides a blueprint to meet these whole child needs, which are foundational to a child’s intellectual and social development and necessary for students to fully engage in learning and school.
What are the Allowable Uses for the ESSER III Funds?
ESSER III funding is available to help safely reopen schools and address the impacts of the pandemic on students' academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs, including interventions to address "learning loss" – delays in students' academic progress related to the pandemic – and support equity with services and supports for student populations that the pandemic has disproportionately impacted. More specifically, ESSER III funds can be used for:
- Activities authorized under existing federal education grant programs Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Card D. Perkins Career Technical Education Act, McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Act, Adult Education, and Family Literacy Acts.
- Coordination of preparedness and response efforts of school or district with state, local, tribal, and territorial public health departments and other relevant agencies to prevent, prepare for and respond to COVID-19.
- Activities to address unique needs of low-income students, students with disabilities, English learners, racial and ethnic minorities, students experiencing homelessness, foster youth.
- Development and implementation of procedures and systems to improve the preparedness and response efforts of the school or district.
- Training and professional development for staff of school or district on sanitation and minimizing the spread of infectious diseases.
- Purchase of supplies to clean and sanitize facilities of the school or district.
- Planning for and coordinating during long-term closures (meals, technology, IDEA, and other educational services provided consistent with Federal, state, local requirements).
- Purchase of educational technology (including hardware, software, and connectivity) for students served by schools or districts, including low-income and IDEA.
- Provision of mental health services and supports.
- Planning and implementation of summer learning and supplemental afterschool activities.
- Providing principals and other school leaders with the resources necessary to address the needs of their schools.
- Addressing learning loss.
- School facility repairs and improvements to enable operation of schools to reduce risk of virus transmission and exposure to environmental health hazards and to support student health needs.
- Inspection, testing, maintenance, repair, replacement, and upgrade projects to improve the indoor air quality in school facilities, including mechanical and nonmechanical heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems, filtering, purification, and other air cleaning, fans, control systems, and window and door repair and replacement.
- Other activities necessary to maintain the operations and continuity of services in the school or district and continuing to employ existing staff of the school or district.
The District must follow the ESSER III spending requirements. We have focused our plan to address four critical areas of need:
- Academic and Instructional Support
- A substantial portion of the funds would be used to provide additional services, technology, resources, and programs to improve student achievement and address the learning loss created by COVID-19 and the closure of schools last year. The district must spend 20% of the 18.9 million allocations on learning loss.
- Social/Emotional Support for Student
- The impact of COVID on children over the past 18 months has been significant. We're looking at programs to help students overcome anxiety and other stressors from being isolated from one another and school. We're also looking at the opportunities these funds bring to provide additional services we've been researching for some time.
- Facilities & Operations
- It's going to be some time before we can pass a bond issue to replace our schools. We plan to use the ESSER III dollars to provide much-needed, temporary upgrades to our facilities that enhance student and staff safety and security, increase operational efficiency and maintain buildings that are nearing their life expectancy. While we know that we need new schools to address overcrowding and many more issues, these funds are not enough to address those needs in an equitable and feasible manner.
- Community Supports & Equity
- ESSER III funds provide us with the opportunity to reimagine how we can serve and support our students and their families. One of the goals of the funds is to help address the disproportionate needs of our students across the district. One way to do this is with the proposed Health & Wellness Center. This is one such idea that we've discussed numerous times in the past. We also want to look at other means of creating more (and more effective) engagement opportunities with parents and the community.
Among the considerations for the ESSER III funds is the opportunity to expand services and support to students and their families (following the premise of Ohio's Whole Child Framework, as described above). Of the $18.9 million the District expects to receive, $3.75 million could be used to address many of the non-academic barriers (physical health, mental health, and family support) that impact our students and support the needs of students' families. We believe the availability of the ESSER III funds is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to provide our community with the support and services they need and deserve.
District Service Center Renovation (using approximately 3/4 of the space currently allocated to transportation services):
- Expand the District's Enrollment/Welcome Center
- Create space for social services support
- Create dedicated space for Franklin County Sheriff’s Department Truancy Officers
- Create space for Franklin County Job and Family Services
- Create space for a food and/or clothing bank
- Create space for a community engagement office and community meeting space
Health and Wellness Center (in partnership with PrimaryOne Health)
- Southeastern Franklin County has limited healthcare options for families to get the wellness and healthcare services they need and deserve. The primary goal of the health clinic is to assist children who may lack access to quality health services by removing or reducing the non-academic barriers to students’ academic success. The clinic also would provide convenient and much-needed services to their families and the community as a whole.
- Services would be available to anyone needing assistance and be provided on a sliding scale based on income. The program also would accept Medicaid.
- The clinic would have its own entrance and would maintain evening and weekend hours.
- Services would include:
- Pediatric and adult general health services
- Dental services
- Hearing services
- Vision services
- Mental health and therapy services
- PrimaryOne Health would cover all operational costs, including staffing, furniture and medical equipment, supplies, utilities, etc. Federal ESSER III funds would be used only to cover the cost to renovate the space in question. It is not anticipated that any general fund dollars to be used for any part of the renovation nor to cover the operations of the health and wellness center while under the partnership with PrimaryOne Health (with the exception of maintenance of the building, as it would be our property).
As noted above, Groveport Madison Schools is to receive $18.9 million in additional federal stimulus funds to help prevent, prepare, and respond to the spread of COVID-19 – funds that must be spent by Sept. 2024. Among the many items being considered is using $3.75 million to convert space at the District Service Center to expand our enrollment and welcome center, provide space for social services and other supports for families and locate a community health and wellness clinic in partnership with PrimaryOne Health.
The ESSER III Community Survey Closed at 5:16 on Sunday, August 8, 2021.
Thank you for taking the time to complete our survey and for contributing to this important endeavor.
We will share the survey results at the Board of Education's Regular Meeting held at 7:30 PM on Wednesday, August 11, at the District Service Center, 4400 Marketing Place, Suite B, Groveport. Those interested may attend in person or watch the meeting live on the District's YouTube channel.
The District will submit its ESSER III plan in advance of the August 20, 2021, federal deadline. A copy of the plan will be available on this webpage.
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