Since the closure of our schools, ATT’s Department of Government Programs has been busy advocating for ATT schools in order to secure funding through the Federal CARES Act: Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSERF).
Last week Chicago Public Schools (CPS) announced that close to $1.5 million in allocations was awarded to nonpublic Jewish schools in the CPS district.
These funds are to be spent in the following ways:
- Supplies/services for sanitation – including PPE and safety equipment
- Technology – computers, phones, IT work for remote learning, etc.
- Any activity authorized in ESSA (i.e. extending the regular Titles IIA, III, IV allocations that schools receive) or IDEA (includes low-income children or students, English learners, children with disabilities, adult education and family literacy)
- Mental health service –counseling, therapy, trauma, behavioral counseling
- Planning for and coordinating long-term closures
- Expenses for managing COVID-19 (training, professional development, and oversight)
- Summer/extended learning opportunities
Spending of CARES funding must be secular, neutral, reasonable and necessary. CARES funding cannot be used to reimburse nonpublic schools. The spending of this CARES funding continues through September 2021.
ATT will help schools with the procedural details for this spending.