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    Local, state, and federal government websites often end in .gov. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania government websites and email systems use "pennsylvania.gov" or "pa.gov" at the end of the address. Before sharing sensitive or personal information, make sure you're on an official state website. 

    Local, state, and federal government websites often end in .gov. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania government websites and email systems use "pennsylvania.gov" or "pa.gov" at the end of the address. Before sharing sensitive or personal information, make sure you're on an official state website. 

    Local, state, and federal government websites often end in .gov. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania government websites and email systems use "pennsylvania.gov" or "pa.gov" at the end of the address. Before sharing sensitive or personal information, make sure you're on an official state website. 

    Local, state, and federal government websites often end in .gov. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania government websites and email systems use "pennsylvania.gov" or "pa.gov" at the end of the address. Before sharing sensitive or personal information, make sure you're on an official state website. 

    Local, state, and federal government websites often end in .gov. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania government websites and email systems use "pennsylvania.gov" or "pa.gov" at the end of the address. Before sharing sensitive or personal information, make sure you're on an official state website. 

    Local, state, and federal government websites often end in .gov. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania government websites and email systems use "pennsylvania.gov" or "pa.gov" at the end of the address. Before sharing sensitive or personal information, make sure you're on an official state website. 

    Local, state, and federal government websites often end in .gov. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania government websites and email systems use "pennsylvania.gov" or "pa.gov" at the end of the address. Before sharing sensitive or personal information, make sure you're on an official state website. 

    Local, state, and federal government websites often end in .gov. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania government websites and email systems use "pennsylvania.gov" or "pa.gov" at the end of the address. Before sharing sensitive or personal information, make sure you're on an official state website. 

    Local, state, and federal government websites often end in .gov. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania government websites and email systems use "pennsylvania.gov" or "pa.gov" at the end of the address. Before sharing sensitive or personal information, make sure you're on an official state website. 

    Local, state, and federal government websites often end in .gov. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania government websites and email systems use "pennsylvania.gov" or "pa.gov" at the end of the address. Before sharing sensitive or personal information, make sure you're on an official state website. 

     
    ESSER Funding

    ESSER Reporting

    With more than $7 billion in Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds allocated to Pennsylvania schools to assist them in preventing, preparing for, and responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) is requiring all entities receiving ESSER funds to report on the use of the ESSER funds.

    The ESSER Funding Status Report seeks to assess the expenditures of ESSER funds, identify the interventions and activities implemented with ESSER funds, and understand planned uses of funds in the next fiscal years. This report has been developed by and is required by USDE. Completion and submission of this report is a condition of continued receipt of ESSER funds.

    This federal ESSER reporting requirement applies to all school districts, charter schools, intermediate units, career and technical education centers, approved private schools, private residential rehabilitative institutions, chartered schools for the deaf and blind, and entities providing educational programs to neglected, delinquent, and at-risk youth that receive ESSER funding under any of the following federal Acts:

    • Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (ESSER I)
    • Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations (CRRSA) Act (ESSER II)
    • American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act (ARP ESSER)

      For questions, email ra-edarpesser@pa.gov

      ESSER Reporting Frequently Asked Questions

      All local education agencies (LEAs) and non-LEA Entities receiving Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds under the CARES Act (ESSER I), the CRRSA Act (ESSER II) and/or the ARP Act (ARP ESSER) must complete and submit the ESSER Funding Status Report to PDE. This includes all school districts, charter schools, intermediate units (IU), career and technical centers (CTC), approved private schools (APS), private residential rehabilitative institutions (PRRI), chartered schools for the deaf and blind, and entities providing educational programs to neglected, delinquent, and at-risk youth that received ESSER funding.

      The ESSER Funding Status Report data collection template is available on the PIMS Excel Reporting Tools web page. School districts, charter schools, IUs, CTCs, APSs, PRRIs, and chartered schools for the deaf and blind that received ESSER funding should follow the LEA ESSER Funding Status Report instructions and submit their report in the Pennsylvania Information Management System (PIMS).

      Entities providing educational programs to neglected, delinquent, and at-risk youth (non-LEA entities) that receive ESSER funding should follow the Non-LEA ESSER Funding Status instructions and email their report as an Excel file to edarpesser@pa.gov. 

      The ESSER Reporting instructions can be found on the ESSER Reporting web page. PDE has prepared ESSER Funding Status Report instructions for both LEAs and Non-LEA entities. The instructions outline the federal reporting requirements, including the time-period of expenditures to be reported, what entities must complete each section of the report, and how to categorize expenditures. 

      LEAs and non-LEA entities receiving ESSER funds must submit the ESSER Funding Status Report to PDE no later than Friday, March 8, 2024. LEAs and non-LEA entities may submit their reports to PDE anytime between February 12, 2024 and March 8, 2024. All grantees are encouraged to submit their completed reports as soon as possible.

      The reporting period for the ESSER Funding Status Report is July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023, which is the 2022-2023 fiscal year (FY). LEAs and non-LEA entities should complete the ESSER Funding Status Report based on activities and expenditures in the 2022-2023 FY for ESSER I, ESSER II and ARP ESSER, respectively. LEAs whose fiscal year starts on January 1 should use the method of converting their financial information to July 1 to June 30 as they do for reporting on the Annual Financial Report. 

      DO NOT include receipt or use of other COVID-relief funds, such as Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) Funds, Emergency Assistance to Nonpublic Schools (EANS) Funds, ARP IDEA Funds, ARP Homeless Children and Youth (ARP-HCY) Funds, and/or any other federal, state, or local COVID-related relief funds.​

      Funds previously reported as expended should only be reported in response to questions that include the language “during the previous reporting periods". LEAs and non-LEA entities must ensure that cumulative totals from ESSER reporting do not exceed what was awarded.  ​
      ​

      Submission of the federal ESSER report is a condition of continued receipt of ESSER funds, and this requirement is built into every ESSER grant agreement. LEAs and non-LEA entities that do not complete and submit the ESSER Funding Status Report will jeopardize their ESSER funding.​

      The CARES Act, the CRRSA Act, and the ARP Act allowed at least 90% of each state's total ESSER allocation to be dedicated to Mandatory Subgrant Awards to LEAs. Subgrants had to be distributed to school districts and charter schools in an amount proportionate to Title I-A shares. See the table below.

      Mandatory Subgrants to LEAs

       ESSER IESSER IIARP ESSER
      Federal ActCARES ActCRRSA ActARP Act
      Eligible LEAsSchool districts and charter schoolsSchool districts and charter schoolsSchool districts and charter schools
      Link to LEA AllocationsLEA A​llocationsLEA AllocationsLEA Allocations
      Timeline for Use of FundsMarch 13, 2020 through September 30, 2022March 13, 2020 through September 30, 2023March 13, 2020 through September 30, 2024
      Current Reporting Period July 1, 2022 through September 30, 2023July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023
      Revenue Codes874187438744
      Funding Source Object Codes986989990​

      The CARES Act, the CRRSA Act, and the ARP Act defines the SEA Reserve Allocation as the remainder of a state's ESSER allocation under each act (up to 10 percent).

      The Pennsylvania General Assembly determined how the ESSER SEA Reserve Allocations for ESSER I and ARP ESSER were distributed. See the tables below. There were no ESSER SEA Reserve Allocations to LEAs for ESSER II. 

      ESSER I SEA Reserve

      Agency, process​PA Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD), eGrants
      Eligible LEAsSchool districts
      Link to LEA AllocationsLEA All​o​cations (PDF)
      Timeline for Use of FundsMarch 13, 2020 through September 30, 2022
      Current Reporting PeriodJuly 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023

       

      ARP ESSER SEA Reserve

       ARP ESSER SEA Reserve I
      (7% set-aside)      		ARP ESSER SEA Reserve II
      (2.5% set-aside)
      Agency, processPDE, eGrantsPDE, eGrants
      Eligible LEAsSchool districts, charter schoolsCTCs, IUs, APSs, PRRIs, chartered schools for the deaf and blind, A-TSI designated schools
      Link to LEA AllocationsLEA AllocationsLEA Allocations
      Timeline for Use of FundsMarch 13, 2020 through September 30, 2024March 13, 2020 through September 30, 2024
      Current Reporting PeriodJuly 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023

      ​ ​

      Questions about the ESSER Funding Status Report should be sent to ra-edarpesser@pa.gov.​