During and following the 2020-2021 school year, the federal government has supported school districts across the nation with supplemental funds to prepare to operate under COVID-related restrictions and mitigation efforts. These have and continue to include physical plant augmentations and cleaning supports, increases in technology hardware, software, and training, increases in social emotional and mental health programs and services, and additional teacher professional development, family support, and student learning recovery opportunities (tutoring, summer camps, summer school, twilight school).  This support will continue over the next three years as Anne Arundel County Public Schools transitions from the 2020-2021 pandemic school year of largely virtual learning to reopening our schools and fully engaging our student body and staff in the in-person school environment.

In 2020 and 2021, Congress passed three stimulus bills that provided nearly $190.5 billion to the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund. States receive funds based on the same proportion that each state receives under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Title I-A.  States must distribute at least 90 percent of funds to local education agencies (LEAs) based on their proportional share of ESEA Title I-A funds*

*Anne Arundel County Public Schools will receive its proportional share of these federal funds as noted. [Source: Office of Elementary & Secondary Education, U.S. Department of Education, ESSER Funds]

• The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, passed on March 27, 2020, provided $13.5 billion to the ESSER Fund.
• The Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2021 (CRRSA), passed on Dec. 27, 2020, provided $54.3 billion in supplemental ESSER funding, known as the ESSER II fund. 
• The American Rescue Plan Act, passed on March 11, 2021, provided $122.7 billion in supplemental ESSER funding, known as the ESSER III fund.