Use of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds (ESSER 1)

The federal government provided school districts with Emergency Relief funds to assist schools with the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. West Valley has completed the reimbursement process for the first round of funding.

West Valley was allocated $642,733 for ESSER 1 for activities that were completed during the past school year (2020/21). For those activities, 40% of the funding was used for classified staff to assist with safe schools monitoring, contact tracing, and additional cleaning protocols. Another 37% of the funding was used for supplies, such as personal protective equipment (face masks), cleaning supplies, and Chromebooks for remote learning. Another 12% was used for additional certificated staff to provide remote learning. Another 9% was used for benefits, such as health insurance, for the additional classified and certified staff that were hired during the year. And, finally, 2% was used for contracted services which included the cost for cellular Hot Spot internet connections for remote learning.

West Valley was able to have elementary students return to school in October 2020 while providing remote learning as well. As a result, student achievement in the spring was outstanding – every elementary grade level performed better than the national average for both reading and math for Spring 2021. Scores available at: https://wvsd208.org/news/wsvd-2021-22-scores-exceeded-national-pre-covid-scores