Both Kosciusko and Attala County school districts have submitted their plans for spending a combined $4,732,150 of federal ESSER II funds to the Mississippi Department of Education.
Congress funded the ESSER program to provide financial support to schools to help address the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Mississippi received $169.8 million in ESSER I funding, another $724.5 million with ESSER II, and will have an additional $1.6 billion to spend under ESSER III.
Both district school boards reviewed and approved plans for the ESSER II expenditures during their meetings last month. All expenditures, once the plans are approved by the MDE, must be made within two years.
The Kosciusko School District will receive $3.25 million dollars.The plan includes the following:
- Fund portion of Pre-K program 2021-22
- Reading tutor and air purifiers for elementary schools
- Supplies, air purifiers and OddessyWare educational software for students at the junior high and high schools
- 3D printer for the gifted program
- After school programs
- Summer school programs
- Instruction improvement, including sub salaries for teachers to attend Pro Development training, Pro Development training for teachers at all grade levels, and teacher incentives,
- All student and teacher supplies for the coming school year
- KSD bathroom renovations (athletics and all metal toilets), fix KUE ramp, KJHS elevator
- Purchase six new buses and one handicapped bus, all with wifi, and add wifi to existing buses
- Website coordinator, software, hardware
- Building improvements including KJHS bathroom (auditorium), boiler at KJHS, air conditioning of KJHS gym and field house, air conditioning of KHS gym and commons, tile final three KJHS rooms with carpet.
For ESSER III funds, the district is looking at funding portions of the athletic facilities upgrade plan among other items.
The Attala County School District was allocated $1.48 million. The districts plans include adding new technology and programs to restore student performance following the pandemic and plans include the following:
- Purchase 20 new Chromebooks for each school, except the Career-Tech Center, which will receive 50, bringing tech access to 1-1 ratio
- Extend access to eLearning programs for two more years
- Four weeks of summer school at junior high and high school level for remediation and credit recovery, two weeks at elementary level
- Student transportation for summer school
- Remediation services during school years
- Fund 12 interventionists - four at each elementary school and two at each high school - for the next two years
- Fund two nurses, one at each end of the district
- Maintain added IT technician position for next two years to continue tech support for students and teachers.
ACSD is looking at potential new buses and construction projects for ESSER III funding.
