As part of the the American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ARP ESSER) Fund, the Starkville Oktibbeha Consolidated School District was awarded $15,340,984 to address theimmediate needs of our students, teachers and school district in response to the Coronavirus pandemic.
The supplementing funding is referred to as the ESSER III fund.
School districts may designate funds for the following purposes:
- reopening schools safely,
- sustaining their safe operation, and
- addressing students’ social, emotional, mental health, and academic needs resulting from the pandemic.
This includes the following expenses:
- addressing teacher recruitment and retention challenges in response to the pandemic;
- implenting evidence-based interventions and ensuringthose interventions respond to students’ social, emotional, and academic needs and address the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on underrepresented student subgroups;
- providing mental health services and supports, including through the implementation of evidence- based full-service community schools and the hiring of counselors;
- continuing to employ existing or hiring new LEA and school staff;
- repairing and improving school facilities to reduce risk of virus transmission and exposure toenvironmental health hazards;
- improving indoor air quality;
- planning for or implementing activities during long-term closures, including providing meals to eligiblestudents and providing technology for online learning;
- purchasing educational technology (including hardware, software, connectivity, assistive technology,and adaptive equipment) for students that aids in regular and substantive educational interaction between students and their classroom instructors, including students from low-income families and children with disabilities
To learn more and/or to provide input on the Starkville Oktibbeha Consolidated School District's pandemic response plan, please join Asst. Supt. Anna Guntharp for a presentation, followed by Q & A session, on Thursday, August 19, at 12 pm or 6 pm via Zoom.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://starkvillesd.zoom.us/j/87893193635?pwd=ZFNyT0tNbS9FSFN1V01aZ2NyWWR3dz09
Meeting ID: 878 9319 3635
Passcode: 784183