ESSER Funds

Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds

ESSER funds are designed to provide resources to local districts to serve students and address the impact of COVID-19 on public school operations.

In addition to following standard statute and data requirements related to grants, school districts need to comply with the following expectations to receive ESSR III funds:

Reserve 20 percent of funds to address learning loss.
Submit information about spending to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Receive feedback from stakeholder groups every six months
Publish safe return and instruction plans related to COVID-19.

While it’s recommended that district’s follow CDC guidance in Safe Return plans, it isn’t required to receive funds. Essentially, a district’s Safe Return plan can include the methods district decides to use to safely manage the district, as long as the district is transparent about what the plans entail. Find our Safe Return plan on our COVID-19 dashboard page.

ESSR I
Received: $1.2 million
Use: Staff salaries to offset funds spent paying non-instructional workers through our shutdown. Additionally, the district spent approximately $107,000 for Non-Public Schools, which was a requirement of ESSR I funding that could later be reimbursed.

ESSR II
Allocated: $4.5 million
Use: Funds were used to support existing salaries in order to improve salaries and benefits for all employees, including the implementation of Phase I and Phase II salary improvements recommended by Team Lee's Summit in the spring of 2021. All of these funds were requested and substantially received in FY 22.

ESSR III
Allocation: $10.2 million
Uses: To date, the District has requested and received $680,855.88, which was used for the following added positions: Secondary School Credit Recovery Facilitators MTSS Specialists at the Elementary Level K-8 Summer School Coordinator All of the remaining ESSR III funds will be requested over the next two fiscal years. While these funds will be coded to salaries and benefits for tracking purposes, it is important to note that this still allows the district to use these funds for the material/supplies, purchased services, and significant HVAC improvements noted in the ESSR III stakeholder report from December 2021. See our Dec. 2021 Stakeholder Report.
*The Missouri legislature passed the Supplemental Budget bill on Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022.

ESSR III

Allocation: $10.2 million

Uses: To date, the District has requested and received $680,855.88, which was used for the following added positions:

Secondary School Credit Recovery Facilitators
MTSS Specialists at the Elementary Level
K-8 Summer School Coordinator

All of the remaining ESSR III funds will be requested over the next two fiscal years. While these funds will be coded to salaries and benefits for tracking purposes, it is important to note that this still allows the district to use these funds for the material/supplies, purchased services, and significant HVAC improvements noted in the ESSR III stakeholder report from December 2021.

See our Dec. 2021 Stakeholder Report.

*The Missouri legislature passed the Supplemental Budget bill on Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022.

Return to our Finance Page.