Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) grants have provided federal pandemic relief funding to enable schools to operate safely during the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic and support social-emotional and academic recovery.
Illinois received three rounds of federal pandemic relief grants: Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (ESSER I), Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (ESSER II), and American Rescue Plan (ARP ESSER), which totaled nearly $8 billion. The third and largest round of funding, ARP ESSER, included a stipulation that required school districts to solicit local stakeholder input to inform their spending and make spending plans publicly available. The
Illinois P-20 Council created the
P-20 Learning Renewal Resource Guide
to inform spending decisions and provide evidence-based strategies that support students in the recovery from the disruption caused by the pandemic.
ESSER Spending Dashboard
Ninety percent of the federal pandemic relief funds flowed directly to school districts based on a formula that considered the number and percent of low-income students each district serves. The remaining 10 percent was allocated by the Illinois State Board of Education toward
learning renewal initiatives aligned to the agency’s strategic plan.
ISBE created a funding dashboard to provide the public with an easy-to-use tool showing how Illinois is using federal pandemic relief funds. The dashboard represents the most up-to-date financial picture pertaining to the use of ESSER funds in Illinois. It provides insight into each school district’s allocation of the three ESSER grants, including the total allocation, the amount spent to date, and the funds remaining.
Click here to view the ESSER dashboard.
ESSER Spending Dashboard Tutorial
This tutorial provides an overview of how to navigate the ESSER Spending Dashboard which shows how Illinois is using federal pandemic relief funds.