Macon County Schools has received its final Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief [ESSER] Fund allocation, and the results should mean a merrier Christmas for the school system’s employees.
Macon County Schools received $3.4 million from its last installment of the ESSER III Fund. The fund, a function of the American Rescue Plan, doled out billions of dollars to public schools this year to cover the cost of pandemic-related expenses, including technology to facilitate distance learning, outdoor equipment, cleaning supplies and staff recruitment and retention. Learning loss caused by extensive school closures is a problem weighing on educators’ minds at every level of government and keeping that loss to a minimum is the main purpose of the fund.
“These funds from the American Rescue Plan and the extraordinary steps the department is taking to get these resources to states quickly will allow schools to invest in mitigation strategies to get students back in the classroom and stay there and address the many impacts this pandemic has had on students – especially those disproportionately impacted by the pandemic,” secretary of education Miguel Cardona said of the fund after the American Rescue Plan was first authorized.
The Macon County Board of Education’s priority when divvying up their remaining funds was a retention bonus for all school system employees. The board members agreed unanimously to a plan that will pay $1,500 to all full-time employees and $750 to all part-time employees as part of their December payroll, both this year and every year through 2024. Competition for staff has heated up among school systems with COVID-19 relief money to spend, and board chairman Jim Breedlove said this is an important measure to reward the employees who stuck it out with Macon County in these last two years.
“Hopefully this comes across that we appreciate every single member of our staff throughout our school system,” Breedlove said. “They are every single one essential to our school system operating as smoothly as it does.”
In looking at other uses for the funds, Assistant Superintendent Josh Lynch relayed the results of a survey about potential improvements given to staff, parents and students. In the survey, parents and students agreed that “improved teaching” was the most important thing for the school system to invest in. To that effect, the school system will invest $500,000 in more professional development programs. Lynch said professional development has already made a big difference in the school system’s workforce, as evidenced by the rapid shift to a virtual model when the pandemic began.
“As we were looking down the barrel of COVID and trying to prepare our teachers and pivot so quickly, the PD (professional development) that we were able to put together just for remote learning was very impactful, it was very significant and it was very cost-effective,” Lynch said.
Also discussed at the meeting were capital outlay needs, most notably the $3.75 million six-classroom expansion of East Franklin Elementary School. While the ESSER allocation won’t cover that expansion, COVID-19 did expose how critical the need for more space is at the school. Having more room for tutoring will make a big difference in the fight against learning loss.
“Last year, they were tutoring in stairwells [at East Franklin Elementary],” Superintendent Chris Baldwin said. “The additional classroom space would address a lot of COVID issues at that building.”
The next meeting of the Macon County Board of Education will be held on Monday, Dec. 13 at 6 p.m. in the boardroom at the Macon County Schools Central Office.