Nashville, TN – Tennessee State Senator Bill Powers (R-Clarksville) announced today that the Montgomery County School District will receive $26,035,378 through the second round of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER II).
This funding is authorized as part of the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRSAA) recently passed by Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump.
“I am pleased Montgomery County is receiving this critical funding to help bridge the learning gap created by this year-long pandemic,” said Senator Powers. “This money will have a huge impact on the school district and will tremendously help our students and teachers.”
According to a letter sent to legislators from Tennessee Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn, these funds are intended to address multiple areas including learning loss, school facility repairs, and improvements, and ongoing technology needs.
Further specific guidelines for the allowable uses of these funds are forthcoming from the federal government. However, the general parameters are similar to those under current federal relief funding released in late spring and early summer of 2020 in the first round of ESSER.
Tennessee is receiving over $1.1 billion through this most recent wave of federal education stimulus funding. Allocations are based on each district’s Fiscal Year 2021 share of Title I funding and the state allocation methodology table.
The Tennessee Department of Education is expected to submit a plan to the federal government for utilizing these funds in the coming weeks.
“I look forward to these funds being released to Montgomery County Schools to effectuate solutions to the issues troubling our education system,” added Powers. “And I will continue to do all that I can to ensure our students and teachers are able to succeed.”
Education is currently at the forefront of many conversations. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee recently announced plans to call the Tennessee General Assembly into a special session on January 19th to promptly address education issues in the state, where learning loss is also among the issues to be discussed.
