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School Plans for ESSER III

ESSER III

(ARP Act Overview)

In response to the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), the U.S. Congress passed the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act, which was signed into law on March 11, 2021. This federal stimulus funding is the third act of federal relief in response to COVID-19, following the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act signed into law on March 27, 2020, and the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2021 (CRRSA Act) signed into law on December 27, 2020. For more information on the CARES Act, please visit the California Department of Education (CDE) CARES Act Funding web page. For more information on the CRRSA Act, please visit the CDE CRRSA Act Funding web page.

The main funding source for local educational agencies (LEAs) in the ARP Act is the ESSER III Fund. The ESSER III Fund accounts for nearly $122 billion of funding for all states and California’s allocation is $15,079,696,097. The ARP Act also requires the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to reserve $800 million to support efforts to identify homeless children and youth, and provide such youth with comprehensive, wrap-around services that address needs arising from the COVID-19 pandemic and allows them to attend school and participate fully in all school activities. California’s allocation for these funds is $98,709,231. For information regarding the ARP Homeless Children and Youth (ARP-HCY) Fund, please visit the Homeless Education web page. Additionally, within the ARP Act there is a program for non-public schools, the Emergency Assistance to Non-Public Schools II (EANS II) grant, which accounts for $2.75 billion for all states and $181,312,003 for California. The ESSER III funding provides local educational agencies (LEAs) with emergency relief funds to address the impact of COVID-19 on elementary and secondary schools across the nation.

ESSER III School Site Plans