ESSER Funds Distribution

Context: What is ESSER?

The Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund is a federal fund, provided as part of the American Rescue Plan, intended to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. This included $582 Million for Rhode Island’s school districts.

Districts are federally mandated to distribute funding, and regularly revise distributions, based on the ongoing feedback from community constituents. As our survey report shows, however, the vast majority of community members were not engaged in this process, nor do they know how to provide input.

In 2021, 7 organizations – the Rhode Island College, RI Kids Count, CYCLE, Young Voices, Latino Policy Institute, the Center for Justice (CFJ) and ARISE – came together to ensure equitable community engagement, through the development and dissemination of an ESSER fact sheet.

Our Survey

In February and March 2022, over 500 people responded to a community survey we distributed. Our survey engaged mostly students (59% of respondents), but also included parents (17%), educators (10%), and other community members (14%). The majority of respondents were from Providence (52%), with others from Cranston (22%), Pawtucket (14%), Central Falls (4%), and other communities (8%) throughout the state.

Of the respondents to our survey, 73% reported that they had not been informed or engaged about ESSER funds in their school district. Over 81% said they did not know who to contact in their district to discuss the use of these funds. These overwhelming response rates underscore how little awareness there is about such an important opportunity to support and improve public education in RI.

During the 2022-2023 School Year, ARISE and Youth Voices students conducted an audit of their schools’ decision making and ESSER fund allocation.