Many public school districts have substantial amounts of money in their budgets as a result of the Federal Elementary and Secondary Schools Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding. Massachusetts has received $2.9 billion and New Hampshire has received $3.5 million, with most of the money going directly to school districts.
Recent government estimates indicate that only about 30% of ESSER money has been spent. This money comes with an expiration date of September 2024. School districts have an unprecedented opportunity and an unprecedented challenge to allocate and spend strategically. A recent Wall Street Journal article quoted a school official saying, “The ‘short-term nature’ of the funding makes it harder to use, and supply-chain issues along with workforce shortages have ‘posed challenges.’”
The ESSER money is designated to help our students and schools recover from losses accrued during Covid-19 disruptions. The money can pay for additional programs, staffing and, importantly, for improvements in technology and technology infrastructure.
Many schools provided laptops to their students to aid in remote learning. Now that they are back in classrooms, students continue to use computers in school – this is a small benefit of the pandemic that helps students greatly. However, many schools find their networks strained by so many devices being used at once. This is a surmountable problem that can be addressed with ESSER money.
At KTS, we work with schools of all types in New England, from K-12 to colleges and universities. We have the knowledge and expertise to determine what you need in a communications infrastructure and to scope the work to fit your budget and timeframe.
So much of what we do is about helping kids, be it school safety or a more reliable network to enable learning. If your school isn’t getting the most out of its communications backbone, contact us. We can help you get learning up to speed.
