Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds (ESSER)

Congress set aside approximately $13.2 billion of the $30.75 billion allotted to the Education Stabilization Fund through the Coronavirus Aid Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act for the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER Fund). Signed into law on March 20, 2021, the Department awarded these grants to State educational agencies (SEAs) for the purpose of providing local educational agencies (LEAs), including charter schools that are LEAs, with emergency relief funds to address the impact that COVID-19 has had, and continues to have, on elementary and secondary schools across the Nation.

Public Comments Taken on August 14, 2023
At the August board of education meeting, special time was provided for in the board agenda for patrons to comment on the District's usage of ESSER funds. Board president Brad Hays requested comments during the meeting, but no comments were given. There were also no email comments submitted.

Attenders were reminded that during every regular board meeting, public comment time is provided, and if a member of the community wanted to, they could also comment at that time.

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If you would like to provide comments on how McCook Public Schools should use their ESSER dollars you will have another opprotunity at the Board of Education meeting on August 9, at 6:30 pm, in the Jr. High Boardroom at 700 West 7th street. If you would rather send an email to be read at the meeting, you can send it to Email Comments

ESSERS Plan

ESSER FUND PLAN NARRATION The school district took overt action to collect input from local stakeholders by providing opportunities for students, parents, staff and all district administrators including special education administrators and principals to share their thoughts during two open meetings before the board of education. The school district took overt action to collect input from local stakeholders by providing opportunities for students, parents, staff and all district administrators including special education administrators and principals to share their thoughts during two open meetings before the board of education. These two meetings took place during the 2021-2022 school year; comments made by community members concerning how the District should proceed were discussed and used when planning on how to spend ESSRS dollars. An additional meeting was held in August of 22; again offering community members the opportunity to comment on ESSRS budgeting and our reopening of schools. The District has also put into place a special email which anyone can use to provide their input, with the email address placed on the District’s Health and Wellness page: https://bisonhealth.weebly.com/.

Our process involved advertising for participation in our decision making process via the school website as well as the local paper, which are the District’s identified primary information dissemination methods. All stakeholders were notified that they could participate via active participation in an open meeting of the Board of Education or they could submit comments, recommendations or concerns via an established email address: comments@mccookbison.org. Stakeholders who chose to participate via electronic communication would have their emails read at the open board meetings, so their input could be discussed.

Two consensus issues identified as needing to be addressed were: appropriate methods for addressing loss of learning, and for air quality in our buildings; specifically the Jr. High School building.

Stakeholder engagement for safe return to school
1. Consultations took place with stakeholders directly involved within the operations of the District, such as, teachers, administrators, students, parents and board members. Consultations also took place with stakeholders from the community at large and our patron population. No limitations were placed on stakeholder involvement or who could participate.

Our process started with consultations among members of the administrative staff, along with members of the local health department. At these initial meetings, administrators learned about the process that would need to be put into place, which would allow the District to operate safely during the pandemic. Following these meetings, an initial plan was developed and shared with the community at large. The plan’s basic elements for reopening were shared at public meetings where such discussion items were prominently displayed on the agenda and in the local news paper. Many of the major details of the plan were also shared via the radio and the entire plan was placed on the District’s website and the community was instructed to go to the website to review it.

Stakeholders attend the open board meetings to share their perspectives on how the district should operate under pandemic conditions. All of the comments community members made took issue with some of the plans, processes and procedures such as mandating students wear masks while in school or in a school vehicle.

Community members were also provided with a way to share their thoughts if they didn’t want to come to a meeting in person. An email account was used to provide patrons opportunities to comment. This email account was posted on the District’s website immediately following the post of the reopening guide.

The information collected from stakeholders was used to help craft the reopening guide, and will continue to be used moving forward as more stockholders share their thoughts with the District.

Stakeholders will continue to be encouraged to attend the open board meetings to share their perspectives on how the district should operate under pandemic conditions. Community members are also provided with a way to share their thoughts if they don't want to come to a meeting in person. An email account is used to provide patrons opportunities to comment. This email account is posted on the District’s website immediately following the post of the reopening guide. We will continue to take all comments and suggestions. Consultations with stakeholders directly involved within the operations of the District, such as, teachers, administrators, students, parents and board members will review all suggestions, and adjust the plan to the ever changing needs.

https://bisonhealth.weebly.com/

Funds for Loss of Learning
1. The District has decided to use ESSER dollars to support and implement two loss of learning focused programs which will provide students with extended time and support for learning. The first program will be focused on extending the school day for any and all students who are in need of extra support based on student assessment scores, teacher recommendation, and parent request. This program requires the district to add two to three staff members, one of which will be a certified teacher. The extended day staff will be focused on providing their students homework assistance, opportunities for engaging in structured and free play, and they will also dedicate time every day for new learning activities centered on building authentic literacy skills: reading, writing, and discussion and debate. They will also provide students with engaging learning activities that will expose them to unique environments via field trips, guest speakers, and others. The program will run for approximately 2 to 2.5 hours Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, and for about 4 hours on Wednesday.

The second program the District will be supporting with the ESSER funds is a summer school program. ESSER dollars will enable the District to expand and improve our summer school programming by allowing the District to hire more staff, which will allow the District to bring more students into the program, since entry into the summer school program is limited by the number of staff the District can hire. The summer school program will focus on developing student skills targeted on authentic literacy, i.e., reading, writing, and discussion and debate. Students will also engage in multiple engagement activities that go beyond classroom work such as problem solving, fine motor skill development, gross motor skill development, and the strengthening of collaboration/teamwork skills. Students will also take field trips and be exposed to guest teachers and experts in their career fields. These authentic experiences will provide students learning opportunities that are more meaningful and ultimately more memorable.

The funds necessary to implement these programs will exceed 20% of the ESSER funds allocated to McCook Public Schools.

The District has a wealth of research that shows that extended time and support programs, which are focused on developing students’ authentic literacy skills, feelings of connectedness, problem solving, and creativity, have a measurably positive impact on student outcomes. Research clearly indicates that students who are engaged in authentic learning experiences that are combined with the development of cognitive skills such as reading, writing, and debate build much deeper understandings of learning objectives. They also develop stronger long term cognitive connections to the content they are learning.

Hyperlinks to research:
http://afterschoolalliance.org/documents/Promoting-Healthy-Futures-Fact-Sheet-2021.pdf
http://afterschoolalliance.org/documents/21stCCLC-Research-02202020.pdf
https://www.ncsl.org/Portals/1/Documents/educ/YearRoundLearning.pdf
https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/7888978/authentic-literacy-mike-schmoker
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED603816.pdf
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED424343.pdf
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1108462.pdf
https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ749450
https://www.solutiontree.com/authentic-literacy-instruction.html

The direct impact of these invested resources providing support for students that missed instructional time is the replacement of those missed learning opportunities. Students were negatively impacted by school closures, and this loss of time meant they missed out on the proper instruction that would have occurred had they been able to attend school. By providing students with additional time in a structured learning environment, the District is helping to make up for the loss in learning that occurred.

The research the District provided shows how a properly structured and focused learning environment can positively impact student outcomes, and how extended programing can be an effective means by which the District engages students in the learning process. The research provided also shows how extended programing can create stronger connections to the school, which were lessened due to school closures. Other benefits of extended programing: better understanding of career opportunities, connections between learning objectives and their practical real world application, and higher levels of positive parent opinions of school and the support their children receive.

Students who participated in our extended day program will spend approximately 554 additional hours in a safe, structured, and literacy rich environment then if they only attend school during the regular day. When extended day hours are combined with our summer school hours, students will be engaged in high quality learning experiences for over 600 additional hours over our regular school year. This time will be critical for students to make up for the hundreds of high quality instructional hours they lost due to school closures.

Students who have been historically marginalized who chose to participate in the extended learning opportunities will be provided with additional support and time to help them to successfully complete grade level academic goals. Historically marginalized students will have access to high quality programing, teachers and support structures, which will all work to help them to successfully learn and grow.

Anticipated Outcomes
McCook Public Schools expects to invest more time and resources in student learning with the ESSER dollars. The District believes the increase in academic time and the additional instructional support, due to the implementation of extended day learning and the summer school program, will result in students being engaged in high quality learning activities for longer periods of time and at deeper levels of cognition. This additional time students spend engaged in learning will lead to increased levels of academic achievement; which will ultimately mitigate the learning loss that occurred due to school closures.

The District also believes that by engaging students in authentic literacy instruction in coordination with authentic experiences will result in students being more engaged during instructional time; thus, building stronger connections to the learning and at a deeper level. This will result in more long-term retention of content and a better contextual understanding of the content they are learning. These learning outcomes will be more meaningful and this will result in more meaningful and lasting learning.

Student Data Which Will be Used to Determine the PrioritiesThe District used achievement and perceptual data to determine the priorities. Student assessment data indicates that not all of our students are at grade level in core academic areas across all the grade levels. These students are trailing their peers due in part to lost academic time brought about by school closures, and also due to students being quarantined or isolated for long periods of time. Both of these circumstances led to students missing out on high quality instruction in the classroom.

The District also has perceptual data showing a higher number of students opting out of traditional in school learning for all or part of the last academic school year due to the pandemic. This loss of time in school will also have a negative impact on student achievement, as well as feelings of connectedness to the school community.

The extended day programs, which have been identified as a necessary interventions to help students succeed, will address both of the above mentioned issues. Students who participate in extended programming will benefit from additional instruction time and support as well as develop strong feelings of connectedness to the school community.

2. Jr. High School Heating and Air-conditioning

McCook Public Schools is planning for improved airflow and air quality at McCook Jr. High through a comprehensive HVAC project. At the completion of this project, McCook Jr. High’s air handling units and HVAC systems will be greatly improved, resulting in improved air quality and learning environments for all of our staff and students.

ESSERS 2 BUDGET

ESSERS 3 BUDGET

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ESSERS Plan & Public Comment on ESSERS Funds

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