Background

On December 27, 2020, the President signed into law the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2021 (CRRSA Act).  The CRRSA Act provides $81.88 billion nationwide in a second Education Stabilization Fund to prevent, prepare for and respond to the coronavirus, of which:

• $54.3 billion is for a second Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund to support the ability of local educational agencies (LEAs), including charter schools that are LEAs, with emergency relief funds to address the impact that Novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has had, and continues to have, on elementary and secondary schools across the nation; and
• $4.05 billion is for a second Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) Fund which provides grants to Governors for the purpose of providing educational agencies with emergency assistance to address the impact of COVID-19.  Of the $4.05 billion, $2.75 billion is set aside for Emergency Assistance to Non-Public Schools grants.

Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER 2) Fund

New York State has been allocated $4 billion under the second Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund.  A minimum of 90% of these funds must be allocated to local educational agencies (LEAs), including charter schools that are LEAs.  The CRRSA Act does not require that a portion of these funds be made available for providing equitable services to students and teachers in non-public schools.

Individual LEA allocations will be calculated by NYSED using the relative shares of grants awarded under Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) for the 2019-20 fiscal year.  It has come to our attention that some LEAs may have received information or tools from certain organizations regarding the calculation of allocation amounts.  Please be advised that NYSED will provide official allocation amounts to LEAs once the ESSER 2 allocations are finalized. 

The U.S. Department of Education (USDE) has developed a fact sheet comparing the ESSER 1 program under the CARES Act with the ESSER 2 program under the CRRSA Act.

Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER 2) Fund

New York State has been allocated $322.9 million under the second Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) Fund.  Of the $322.9 million, $250.1 million is for a new Emergency Assistance to Non-Public Schools (EANS) grant program and the remaining $72.8 million is for the Governor to determine programming. The CRRSA Act requires the Governor to submit an application to USDE for the EANS funds and for NYSED to administer this program.

The U.S. Department of Education (USDE) has developed a fact sheet comparing the GEER 1 program under the CARES Act with the GEER 2 program under the CRRSA Act.

Application Process

NYSED is working to develop application forms and LEA specific allocations for the ESSER funds.  When the application and LEA allocation amounts are final, NYSED will ask LEAs to submit an application for the ESSER funds using our online Application Business Portal. 

Thank you for everything you are doing for your students during this unprecedented time. 

cc:
Commissioner Rosa
John D’Agati
Sharon Cates-Williams
Kim Wilkins
Sean Giambattista
Jason Harmon
Christina Coughlin
Ed Lenart