Plan for Federal Funds

The federal government has passed several laws in the past year to address the economic and health consequences of the coronavirus pandemic (pandemic). The Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations (CRRSA) Act, signed into law on December 27, 2020, provided additional funding to school districts under the same programs established last year in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act was signed into law on March 11, 2021, and continues many of the programs enacted by the CARES Act by adding new phases, new allocations and new guidance to address issues related to the ongoing pandemic. The ARP Act also creates new programs to address continuing pandemic-related crises and fund recovery efforts.

Lancaster Central School District created a plan to utilize the allocation of federal funds to help our students and the school community address issues related to the ongoing pandemic that have affected all families and students. The main areas of focus are:

• Addressing the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on students, including the impacts of interrupted instruction and learning loss for all students, but especially the impacts on low-income students, children with disabilities, English language learners, and students experiencing homelessness;
• Implementing evidence-based strategies to meet students' social, emotional, mental health, and academic needs;
• Purchasing educational technology;
• Safely returning students to in-person instruction.
• Offering evidence-based summer, afterschool, and other extended learning and enrichment programs;

The district's 3-year plan to utilize the allocation of federal CCRSA and ARP funds was finalized in July 2021. Over the course of the 3-year grant, the district will review the plan bi-annually and consider revisions at that time. We encourage all stakeholders to review the current plan and applications and provide feedback at any time, but specifically welcome additional feedback by 6/30/22 for an upcoming reporting period.   We gathered input most recently on March 11, 2022 through email. Since that time our plan has remained unchanged in its programmatic and fiscal focus. We continue to gather input via the following email address: LCSDCommunityInput@lancasterschools.org. As any substantive revisions are made to the plan in the future, we will formally solicit public comment.

Stakeholders’ comments on this plan through June 30, 2022 will be considered in the District's July 1, 2022 NYSED plan submission. Our stakeholders include parents, teachers, administrators, and other members of the school community. Please identify which stakeholder group(s) you most closely identify with in your email.

Learning Loss Due to Interrupted Instruction

• Hire reading specialists to support students not reading at grade level.
• Hire math intervention teachers to provide academic intervention services (AIS) for students at the K-3 level.
• Curriculum resources to support literacy instruction and alignment at the K-3 level.
• Curriculum resources to support alignment between teachers at the K-6 level (e.g., social studies at 4-6 level).
• Targeted professional development for intervention specialists, this training would be designed to meet the needs of students both struggling and excelling in mathematics.

Maximizing Instructional Time

• Expansion of K-12 summer school programs to increase the number of students receiving additional support.
• After school learning opportunities for students identified as needing instructional support, especially low-income students, children with disabilities, English language learners, and students experiencing homelessness.
• Creation of summer enrichment programs to focus on mathematics and literacy at the K-6 level.
• Provide opportunities for student testing during the summer months to increase the amount of time students are offered academic intervention services (AIS) during the school year.

Offering Enrichment Programs

• Purchase Advanced Placement (AP) exams for students to allow equitable access for all students.
• Provide professional development opportunities for our teachers to begin creation of Pre-AP courses.

Supporting Student Social, Emotional, and Mental Well-Being

• Curriculum resources for social-emotional learning to support students in our summer programs and during the school year.
• Hire additional mental health personnel (e.g., social workers, psychologists).
• Train appropriate personnel on best practices as it relates to Response to Intervention (RTI) and Multi-tiered Systems of Support (MTSS).

Educational Technology Purchases

Our plans for non-recurring expenses in the area of purchasing educational technology include:

• Replace devices (i.e., Chromebooks) for students
• Purchase of educational software to support the loss of instruction

Safely Returning Students to In-Person Instruction

• Hire additional cleaning personnel to address high-touch surfaces during the school day.

If you require a hard copy of this plan, a translated version, or have any other special needs to access this plan, please email LCSDCommunityInput@lancasterschools.org.

---

Submit all inquiries and requests for future enhancements to the policy owner at NEW YORK STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT, Chief Information Officer, 89 Washington Avenue, Room 675 EBA, Albany, NY  12234 or via email at sedaccess@nysed.gov.