Districts and charters have until Sept. 30, 2024 to spend more than half a billion dollars that was provided for COVID-19 pandemic relief. Delaware received $637,239,246 in the $122 billion federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund, or ESSER Funds. Distributed in three separate rounds, ESSER Funds which were allocated across three separate rounds and part of the American …
Smyrna to spend $450,000 in COVID funds to light turf field
A Smyrna School District’s board decision to use the district’s $450,000 in pandemic relief and more to install lighting at its middle school’s turf field didn’t pass without debate. The proposal touched off a flurry of comments about whether that is the best use of the one-time federal money. The district has $80 million in deferred maintenance, according to Roger …
Colonial surprise: Reading scores higher after COVID
Colonial School District Superintendent Jeffrey D. Menzer unearthed a surprising fact while he was devising a method to track the effectiveness of a new focus on student reading skills and scores. The 2022 eighth graders who had been at Colonial schools since second grade scored higher on reading proficiency tests than those in eighth grade in 2019, Menzer told the …
Delaware investing in career readiness with COVID money
Delaware is spending more of its education COVID relief funds on postsecondary and career readiness than other states. “Overall, Delaware’s state spending aligns with national trends, but we are seeing more of a priority in those areas in Delaware than in other states, so that’s one thing that really stands out,” said Austin Estes, project director for the COVID Relief …
Webinar to focus on where COVID education money went
First State Educate will host a school funding webinar Tuesday to discuss where the hundreds of millions of dollars in COVID-19 education relief funds went. The federal government allocated $122 billion amongst the states in K-12 pandemic funds, and First State Educate wants the community to know where the money is going. Delaware received a total of $637,239,246 across three …
Hundreds of Christina students receive tutoring for learning loss
Christina School District is using federal COVID-19 money to hire tutors for two years to help its students catch up. Photo by Ralston Smith/Unsplash Over 600 students in Christina School District are taking part in a district-wide one-on-one virtual tutoring program to help them climb the ladder of proficiency in math and reading. The results: About 60% of …
Brandywine’s tech triad working to modernize classrooms
Teachers in the Brandywine School District are one step closer to being about to throw away notebooks, pencils and erasers. Brandywine School District is making a determined effort to modernize the classroom, with devices for teachers like interactive smart boards, Chromebooks and iPads. Ultimately, the district believes student test scores will improve with instructor access to the …