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Massachusetts Department of Elementary & Secondary Education
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FY22 Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief III Fund Application
Fund Code 119 rev. 7/14/21
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Overview
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This application allows LEAs (districts and other eligible entities, referred to in this application collectively as districts) to apply for funding for
the following federal program:
Fund Code 119, Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER III) Fund authorized
by the American Rescue Plan Act (2021) (ARPA). While similar to ESSER I and II, funded by the CARES and CRRSA Acts, respectively, there are
modifications to the amount of funding for each district, new maintenance of equity requirements, and requirements that each district have
two plans (one for returning to in-person learning and one for effective use of ESSER III funds (see below)).
ESSER III does not require
districts to provide equitable services to private schools.
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New Maintenance of Equity Requirement
As a condition of receiving its allocation of ESSER III funds, your district must agree to the following for both FY22 and FY23:

• State and Local funds: Your district will not reduce the per-pupil allocation of state and local funds to your high-poverty schools by
more than the total reduction of these funds to all schools divided by the total number of students enrolled in all of your
schools for that fiscal year, and

• Full-time Equivalent Staff: Your district will not reduce the per-pupil, full-time equivalent staff in any high-poverty school by
an amount that exceeds the total reduction in full-time equivalent staff in all of your schools (if any) divided by the number of students
enrolled in all of your schools for that fiscal year.

High-poverty schools means any school that is in the highest quartile (25%) of the district's schools based on the percentage of
economically disadvantaged schools served. Your schools with reported economically disadvantaged students by percentage (based on March 2021
SIMS data) will prepopulate on Tab 3 (rounded up to the nearest whole school).

Exceptions: Districts with 1) a single school, 2) a single school per grade, or 3) less than 1,000 enrolled students are not subject to
the maintenance of equity requirement.
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New In-Person Learning and ESSER III Fund Implementation Plan Requirements
Within 30 days of receiving ESSER III funding, districts must publish on the public pages of their websites a plan for the safe return to in-person
instruction and continuity of services. The plan must have been available for public comment, which was considered in plan development.
Districts may use their District Reopening Plans submitted to DESE or another plan that the district has in place to meet this plan requirement.
You will be asked to indicate your district reopening plan status on Tab 3.

Your district must also submit a plan for the use of ESSER III funds (Implementation Plan), that meets requirements set out by USED, including
how the district will use ESSER III funds to: combat learning loss (see required reservation, next paragraph), address the academic, social,
emotional, and mental health needs of students, especially those groups most impacted by the pandemic, and other spending and
mitigation/prevention information. Stakeholder outreach and input is essential for these plans. This application, fully and thoughtfully
completed, will constitute the district's plan, once approved by DESE. See Tab 4 for more information.
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New Reservation of 20% of total ESSER III funds to address learning loss
Each district must reserve at least 20% of its ESSER III allocation to address learning loss through the implementation of evidence-based
interventions and ensure that those interventions respond to students' social, emotional, and academic needs and address the disproportionate
impact of COVID-19 on underserved student subgroups (each major racial and ethnic group, children from low-income families, children with
disabilities, English learners, gender, migrant students, students experiencing homelessness and children and youth in foster care).

Application due date is Monday, October 4, 2021. A start date cannot be given until you have submitted a substantially approvable
application and budget for the grant. While applications are available and may be submitted prior to July 1, 2021, the earliest start date for
this grant is July 1, 2021. If you have questions about these deadlines, please contact your
federal grants liaison.
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First Step: Saving the File
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Save this file to your computer (Important: ensure macros are enabled). Rename the file by replacing the words 'leacode' in the file name with your 4-digit district code. For example, Abington (0001) would rename the file as 'ESSERIII-0001.xlsm'. Do not change the filename except for your district's 4-digit code. Users of Macintosh computers must save as a macro-enabled file (with an .xlsm extension) to their desktop for the workbook to function properly.
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Tips for Completing the ESSER III Fund Application
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Workflow and printing:
Complete the Signature Page first. The rest of the tabs do not need to be completed in order, but your application will not be considered substantially
approvable if you leave required information blank.

• Complete the steps on each tab in the order that they are numbered. Note that some steps may not be required for your district and may be skipped.

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Budget worksheet (Tab 6) must be completed. This tab mirrors the budget entry page in EdGrants with the addition of sections re: equipment and
certain contracts. The budget worksheet is mandatory, in addition to entering budget information in EdGrants.

• This workbook is structured to be used in electronic format. However, you can print a copy using Excel's print preview functions to set the appearance and
paper orientation to best fit your completed application.

Color-coding and cell features:
Those cells that appear light yellow require districts to input information. Text may be pasted into these cells as long as the source of the information has no
Excel formulas or formatting.

• Those cells that appear light gray will automatically populate based on information your district supplies on the application or from preloaded data already
reported to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) (for example, SIMS data).
Do not cut and paste information from other pages or
sources into gray cells!

• Those cells that appear in light orange offer a dropdown menu from which districts can choose a supplied response.
Do not cut and paste information from
other pages or sources into orange cells!

• Throughout the tabs of this application you will find instruction boxes, tip boxes (pink) to help avoid common mistakes, and resource boxes (tan) that
include links to materials outside the application with more detailed, grant-related information.
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Submit the FY22 ESSER III Application as an Excel workbook via
EdGrants Front Office web page
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EdGrants Submission Information:
Most districts/applicants already have designated control users in EdGrants Front Office, who have access to submit grant applications as well as to make payment requests. Each district/applicant needs to ensure that it has an authorized control user prior to grant submission. If a district waits until its grant submission is ready to submit before inquiring about a new username/login, grant submissions may be delayed several business days waiting for control user set-up. Please review the EdGrants Security Controls documents and/or contact DESE's Grants Management Office, 781-338-6595 or EdGrants@mass.gov, regarding assigning your EdGrants Front Office control users.
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The district/applicant control users will register each grant opportunity, create each grant project and enter contact information, budget, and required attachments in EdGrants. All districts' business offices have been contacted with information regarding training. If you are unsure of who in your office is a control user, please contact your business office. The ESSER III Fund Application Workbook and a signed and dated .pdf of the Signature Page (Tab 1) must be uploaded with your budget in EdGrants.
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Applications are due by Monday, October 4, 2021
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NOTE ON SUBMISSION TIMELINE:
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• The start date will be the later of the date on which the district submits substantially approvable information and budget for the grant
or July 1, 2021.
• Responding quickly to requests for information can result in an earlier approval of your grant application.
• Grant payment notices will be available in EdGrants after the grant application has been approved and the initial payment is processed.
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