COVID Recovery Funds (ARP ESSER) are coming to a close fall of 2024. These funds have been used for key student support roles such as mental health counselors, school nurses, and academic interventionists. Many of these funds were used to support our most vulnerable students. At this event we’ll discuss why we need to continue fully funding public schools to create the environments our educators and students need and deserve. There will be a panel with Jo-Anne Smith, Colin Robinson, Maria Davies, Théo Soucy, and Addie Letzner. We’ll review the report we just released: Full Funding for Public Schools in a Post COVID Recovery Funds Era which looks at how schools have allocated the largest round of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds, ESSER III, to date. There will also be time to connect with folks and strategize about how to engage in current school budget conversations.

When: Thursday, Jan. 25th 5:30-7:00pm

Where: Zoom

Since the COVID Recovery Funds were announced, we have hosted several events to understand what the funds are, how they will work, and they can be used to support equity in Vermont schools. We worked with coalition members to collectively create the Beyond COVID Recovery Organizing Toolkit that included funding recommendations that push for education justice and offers strategies to organize in your local community to impact your school district’s spending plan. In collaboration with the VT-NEA and Rights & Democracy, we also created A Report of Emergency School Relief Spending in Vermont Schools to analyze school COVID relief spending plans for how well they support equity.