The New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) has released LEAs’ ARP ESSER Fund allocations.  All school districts have access to the allocations on the ARP ESSER Allocation Table PDF.

In addition to ARP ESSER funds allocated to LEAs through the New Jersey Department of Education, the U.S. Department of the Treasury distributed State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) to address the impact of the pandemic. Federal guidance was released in July 2022 to provide additional information about SLRFR, including examples of uses for these funds and frequently asked questions.

The ARP ESSER funding has the same allowable activities as the ESSER I and ESSER II funds; however an LEA must reserve not less than 20 percent of its total ARP ESSER allocation to address learning loss through the implementation of evidence-based interventions, such as summer learning or summer enrichment, extended day, comprehensive afterschool programs, or a extended school year programs, and ensure that such interventions respond to students’ academic, social, and emotional needs and address the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on underrepresented student subgroups.  LEAs may use their ARP ESSER funding on the following allowable activities:

1. Activities authorized under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006, the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, or the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act.
2. Coordination of preparedness and response efforts of local educational agencies with State, local, Tribal, and territorial public health departments, and other relevant agencies, to improve coordinated responses among such entities to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus.
3. Providing principals and others school leaders with the resources necessary to address the needs of their individual schools.
4. Activities to address the unique needs of low-income children or students, children with disabilities, English learners, racial and ethnic minorities, students experiencing homelessness, and foster care youth, including how outreach and service delivery will meet the needs of each population.
5. Developing and implementing procedures and systems to improve the preparedness and response efforts of local educational agencies.
6. Training and professional development for staff of the local educational agency on sanitation and minimizing the spread of infectious diseases.
7. Purchasing supplies to sanitize and clean the facilities of a local educational agency, including buildings operated by such agency.
8. Planning for and coordinating during long-term closures, including for how to provide meals to eligible students, how to provide technology for online learning to all students, how to provide guidance for carrying out requirements under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1401 et seq.) and how to ensure other educational services can continue to be provided consistent with all Federal, State, and local requirements.
9. Purchasing educational technology (including hardware, software, and connectivity) for students who are served by the local educational agency that aids in regular and substantive educational interaction between students and their classroom instructors, including low-income students and students with disabilities, which may include assistive technology or adaptive equipment.
10. Providing mental health services and supports.
11. Planning and implementing activities related to summer learning and supplemental afterschool programs, including providing classroom instruction or online learning during the summer months and addressing the needs of low-income students, students with disabilities, English learners, migrant students, students experiencing homelessness, and children in foster care.
12. Addressing learning loss among students, including low-income students, children with disabilities, English learners, racial and ethnic minorities, students experiencing homelessness, and children and youth in foster care, of the local educational agency, including by—
1. Administering and using high-quality assessments that are valid and reliable, to accurately assess students’ academic progress and assist educators in meeting students’ academic needs, including through differentiating instruction.
2. Implementing evidence-based activities to meet the comprehensive needs of students.
3. Providing information and assistance to parents and families on how they can effectively support students, including in a distance learning environment.
4. Tracking student attendance and improving student engagement in distance education.
13. School facility repairs and improvements to enable operation of schools to reduce risk of virus transmission and exposure to environmental health hazards, and to support student health needs.
14. Inspection, testing, maintenance, repair, replacement, and upgrade projects to improve the indoor air quality in school facilities, including mechanical and non-mechanical heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems, filtering, purification and other air cleaning, fans, control systems, and window and door repair and replacement.
15. Other activities that are necessary to maintain the operation of and continuity of services in local educational agencies and continuing to employ existing staff of the local educational agency.
16. Develop strategies and implement public health protocols including, to the greatest extent practicable, policies in line with guidance from the CDC for the reopening and operation of school facilities to effectively maintain the health and safety of students, educators, and other staff.
17. Bonuses, merit pay, or similar expenditures, must be related to disruptions or closures associated with COVID-19.  The United States Department of Education recently updated its guidance on using APR ESSER and other Federal resources to address teacher shortages. Please click the link to access the guidance. https://www2.ed.gov/documents/coronavirus/arp-teacher-shortages.pdf 

The USED generally does not consider the following to be an allowable use of funds:

1. Subsidizing or offsetting executive salaries and benefits of individuals who are not employees of the school district.
2. Expenditures related to state or local teacher or faculty unions or associations.

LEAs are not required to provide equitable services under ARP ESSER. The ARP Act includes a separate program, the Emergency Assistance to Non-public Schools (ARP EANS). Additional information regarding ARP EANS will be forthcoming. Information regarding the first EANS program that was authorized under the Coronavirus Response, Relief, and Supplemental Appropriations Act can be found on the NJDOE Nonpublic site.

• Start Period: Funds may be used for allowable costs incurred on or after March 13, 2020;
• Obligated through: September 30, 2024, which includes the Tydings period (General Education Provisions Act §421(b)(1)); and
• Liquidated by: October 13, 2024.

ARP ESSER funds are not subject to a supplement not supplant provision.

The ARP (section 2004(b) and (c)) contains both State and LEA maintenance of equity requirements for each of FYs 2022 and 2023. The United States Department of Education intends to provide additional guidance on these requirements.

The ARP (section 2004(b) and (c)) contains both State and LEA Maintenance of Equity requirements for FYs 2022 and 2023. The United States Department of Education has released guidance on the Maintenance of Equity requirement, along with a letter to chief state school officers and school district superintendents.  

• Frequently Asked Questions ARP ESSER MOEquity Requirements updated 10.1.21
• Letter dated 8.6.21
• List of Schools Identified as "High Poverty" for LEA ARP ESSER Maintenance of Equity Requirements (FY 2023)
• List of Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) Excepted from ARP ESSER LEA Maintenance of Equity Requirements (FY 2023)
• Procedures for Ensuring LEA Maintenance of Equity
• FY23 LEA Level Maintenance of Equity Data

The 2020-2021 edition of the Uniform Minimum Chart of Accounts for New Jersey Public Schools and Approved Private Schools for Students with Disabilities will be updated to provide information on the appropriate accounting codes.

LEAs will be required to provide reports to the NJDOE documenting the amount of ARP ESSER funds spent in each allowable use category. Due dates for these reports will be outlined in the EWEG system. In addition, LEAs will be subject to applicable monitoring processes on the uses of ARP ESSER funds.

ARP ESSER funds are subject to all applicable provisions of the Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) and Uniform Grant Guidance (UGG). LEAs should be aware of cash management (2 CFR § 200.305) and other post federal award requirements in 2 CFR part 200, subpart D. Note: Due to the amount of funding provided, additional LEAs may fall within the single audit threshold (i.e., expending $750,000 or more of federal funds during the fiscal year).

­­The Accelerated Learning Coaching and Educator Support Grant is a formula grant for Local Education Agencies (LEAs) to provide evidence-based professional learning and coaching opportunities to a variety of school staff, including educators and key support staff (e.g., school counselors, special education personnel, nurses, social workers, and psychologists) on the principles in New Jersey's Learning Acceleration guide and on topics tailored to the unique academic as well as social, emotional, and mental health needs of their students. Since December 27, 2023, the list of allowable activities under this set-aside was expanded to include direct student supports, high quality instructional materials, and high-impact tutoring. The following four principles guide learning acceleration planning and implementation:

1. Provide conditions for teaching and learning that will foster the social and emotional well-being of students, families, and educators; 
2. Improve equitable access to grade-level content and high-quality resources for each student; 
3. Prioritize content and learning by focusing on the depth of instruction rather than the pace; and 
4. Implement a K-12 accelerated learning cycle to identify gaps and scaffold as needed. 

In practice, these principles facilitate high-quality accelerated instruction and engaged personalized learning. Relevant and permitted topics of professional learning on the learning acceleration concepts might include but are not limited to:  

• Developing positive school climates that promote the social, emotional, and well-being of students using universal tier I supports, strategies, and interventions; 
• Integrating social and emotional learning in classroom, schools, and communities; 
• Implementing culturally responsive teaching practices that acknowledge and affirm students' cultural identities and expand educators' understanding of the relationship between students' cultural backgrounds and their academic, social, and emotional needs; 
• Increasing digital literacy and equitable access to high-quality curriculum and instructional technology with a focus on understanding how access differs for students of poverty, of color, with special needs, and English learners; 
• Using local and state assessment data to improve instruction; 
• Engaging educators and parents in the community to prioritize standards, providing scaffolding and personalized supports through extended learning, and ensuring equitable access to grade-level standards; 
• Identifying the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on different student subgroups and based on differing levels of access to in-person learning since March 2020; 
• Administering and using high-quality assessments that are valid and reliable, to accurately assess students’ academic progress and assist educators in meeting students’ academic needs, including through differentiating instruction; 
• Support of Intervention and Referral Services (I&RS), Multi-Tiered Systems of Supports (MTSS), and Response to Intervention (RTI); 
• Extending and expanding high-quality professional learning activities supported by the Learning Acceleration Grant that NJDOE made available in March 2021; and 
• Facilitating other professional learning that will empower educators to meet the needs of their students better. 

To ensure this grant addresses the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on different student populations, the grant uses a weighted enrollment allocation formula that assigns additional weight to lower grade bands, limited English proficient students, and students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. An LEA's weighted enrollment for this purpose will be calculated in a manner nearly identical to that used to determine an LEA's state aid amount under New Jersey's School Funding Reform Act (SFRA), with the exception that the SFRA assigns more weight to higher grade bands rather than lower grade bands (swapped values) here. Weighted enrollments for this grant are: 1.16 to elementary school students (grades K-5); 1.04 to middle school students (grades 6-8); and 1.0 to high school students (grades 9-12).  

Furthermore, plans must include measures to address the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on certain student groups by identifying disparities and focusing on the underserved learners. Disproportionally impacted student groups include students from low-income families, each racial or ethnic group, gender, English learners, children with disabilities (including infants, toddlers, children, and youth with disabilities eligible under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ("IDEA")), students experiencing homelessness, children and youth in foster care, migratory students, and others identified by the NJDOE's State Plan (e.g., youth exhibiting mental health issues as a result of the pandemic). 

The NJDOE establishes a minimum allocation of $50,000 to provide each LEA capacity to carry out meaningful, and equitable evidence-based allowable grant activities.   

Additional Information & Resources:  

• New Jersey Tiered System of Supports  
• New Jersey's Learning Acceleration Guide  
• N.J.A.C. 6A:9C, Professional Development  
• Non-Regulatory Guidance: Using Evidence to Strengthen Education Investments  
• Planning Resources for the Accelerated Learning Coaching and Educator Support Grant

The Evidence-based Summer Learning and Enrichment Activities Grant is a formula grant to LEAs for supporting evidence-based academic summer activities such as learning academies and 1:1 tutoring, as well as other summer activities that support the broader learning ecosystem of students, staff, and families. These activities include but are not limited to: 

• Time for re-socialization and developing social-emotional skills and growth mindsets in students; 
• Academic enrichment and extended learning opportunities, including providing tutorial services to help students, particularly those most impacted by the pandemic, meet the challenging State academic standards; 
• An array of activities responding to students' academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs, such as service-learning and youth development activities, health, and wellness education, counseling programs, experiential and project-based learning in STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics) and the Arts (visual and performing), and other programs tied to an in-demand industry sector or occupation for high school students that are designed to reinforce and complement the regular academic program of participating students; 
• Professional learning for educators in the use of universal screening assessments and other topics relevant to the summer program; and 
• Education and training programs for the parents and caregivers of students to meaningfully engage in their children's education, including literacy and other related educational development opportunities. 

Since December 27, 2023, the list of allowable activities under this set-aside was expanded to include asynchronous and flexible learning modules, summer bridge and course preview programs, opportunities for high-impact tutoring, as well as other innovative summer learning activities.

LEAs will be required to target funds to content areas or grade levels most impacted by the disruptions of COVID-19 at that LEA (e.g., STEM, early elementary grades, transition grades, or visual and performing arts).

While funds can be used for intervention and remediation, credit recovery, and traditional Extended School Year (ESY) services, applications may include innovative programs that go beyond these traditional activities. For example, funds may be used to provide high dosage tutoring or instruction that previews standards for students' upcoming year, rather than repeats instruction from the prior year. Additionally, funds can be used to create and design interdisciplinary, project-based instruction. See New Jersey's Summer Learning Resource Guide 2021 that guides LEAs in transforming traditional summer school and advancing priorities, including the expansion of equitable opportunities for all students. 

To ensure this grant addresses the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on different student populations, the grant uses a weighted enrollment allocation formula that assigns additional weight to lower grade bands, limited English proficient students, and students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. An LEA's weighted enrollment for this purpose will be calculated in a manner nearly identical to that used to determine an LEA's state aid amount under New Jersey's School Funding Reform Act (SFRA), with the exception that the SFRA assigns more weight to higher grade bands rather than lower grade bands (swapped values) here. Weighted enrollments for this grant are: 1.16 to elementary school students (grades K-5); 1.04 to middle school students (grades 6-8); and 1.0 to high school students (grades 9-12).

Furthermore, plans must include measures to address the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on certain student groups by identifying disparities and focusing on the underserved learners. Disproportionally impacted student groups include students from low-income families, each racial or ethnic group, gender, English learners, children with disabilities (including infants, toddlers, children, and youth with disabilities eligible under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ("IDEA")), students experiencing homelessness, children and youth in foster care, migratory students, and others identified by the NJDOE's State Plan (e.g., youth exhibiting mental health issues as a result of the pandemic).

The NJDOE establishes a minimum allocation of $40,000 to provide each LEA capacity to carry out meaningful and equitable evidence-based grant activities over the summer. 

Additional Information & Resources: 

• New Jersey's Summer Learning Resource Guide 2021 
• Planning Resources for the Evidence-based Summer Learning and Enrichment Activities Grant

The Evidence-based Comprehensive Beyond the School Day Activities Grant is a formula grant to LEAs for supporting evidence-based academic enrichment activities during out-of-school time, such as 1:1 tutoring, as well as activities that support the broader learning ecosystem of students, staff, and families. Out-of-school time includes the periods before school, after-school, weekends, and holiday breaks. The purpose of this grant is to support LEAs in enhancing the quality and equitable access of their comprehensive out-of-school time programs and services that improve the academic, social, and emotional wellness of their students during the school year. Allowable uses include but are not limited to:

• Time for re-socialization and developing social-emotional skills and growth mindsets in students;
• Academic enrichment and extended learning opportunities, including providing tutorial services to help students, particularly those most impacted by the pandemic, meet the challenging State academic standards and excel in concurrent course work;
• An array of activities responding to students' academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs, such as service-learning and youth development activities, health, and wellness education, counseling programs, experiential and project-based learning in STEM and the Arts (visual and performing), and other programs tied to an in-demand industry sector or occupation for high school students that are designed to reinforce and complement the regular academic program of participating students;
• Professional learning for educators in the use of universal screening assessments and coordinating with beyond the school day activities; and
• Education and training programs for the parents and caregivers of students to meaningfully engage in their children's education, including literacy and other related educational development opportunities.

Since December 27, 2023, the list of allowable activities under this set-aside was expanded to include support for high-impact tutoring, service learning experiences, structured learning experiences, and/or advanced coursework opportunities for students to earn credit toward a college degree or industry-valued credential.

LEAs will be required to target funds to content areas or grade levels most impacted by the disruptions of COVID-19 at that LEA (e.g., STEM, early elementary grades, transition grades, or visual and performing arts).

To ensure this grant addresses the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on different student populations, the grant uses a weighted enrollment allocation formula that assigns additional weight to lower grade bands, limited English proficient students, and students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. An LEA's weighted enrollment for this purpose will be calculated in a manner nearly identical to that used to determine an LEA's state aid amount under New Jersey's School Funding Reform Act (SFRA), with the exception that the SFRA assigns more weight to higher grade bands rather than lower grade bands (swapped values) here. Weighted enrollments for this grant are: 1.16 to elementary school students (grades K-5); 1.04 to middle school students (grades 6-8); and 1.0 to high school students (grades 9-12).

Furthermore, plans must include measures to address the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on certain student groups by identifying disparities and focusing on the underserved learners. Disproportionally impacted student groups include students from low-income families, each racial or ethnic group, gender, English learners, children with disabilities (including infants, toddlers, children, and youth with disabilities eligible under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ("IDEA")), students experiencing homelessness, children and youth in foster care, migratory students, and others identified by the NJDOE's State Plan (e.g., youth exhibiting mental health issues as a result of the pandemic).

The NJDOE will establish a minimum allocation of $40,000 to provide each LEA capacity to carry out meaningful and transformative evidence-based grant activities. 

Additional Information & Resources: 

• New Jersey's Afterschool Programs 
• Planning Resources for the Evidence-based Comprehensive Beyond the School Day Activities Grant

The ESEA (Section 8101(21)) defines an evidence-based activity, strategy, or intervention that demonstrates a statistically significant effect on improving student outcomes or other relevant outcomes. Under ESEA generally, evidenced based practices can fall under any of the below four tiers of evidence. (See this US Department of Education department webpage for additional guidance) 

• Tier 1: Strong evidence from at least one well-designed and well-implemented experimental study.   
• Tier 2: Moderate evidence from at least one well-designed and well-implemented quasi-experimental study.   
• Tier 3: Promising evidence from at least one well-designed and well-implemented correlational study with statistical controls for selection bias.   
• Tier 4: Demonstrates a rationale based on high-quality research findings or positive evaluation that such activity, strategy, or intervention is likely to improve student outcomes or other relevant outcomes and includes ongoing efforts to examine the effects of such activity, strategy, or intervention.  

For additional guidance, see this Non-Regulatory Guidance: Using Evidence to Strengthen Education Investments and NJDOE's Guidance in Choosing Evidence-based Practices.

Under the Multi-Tiered System of Supports (NJTSS) Mental Health Support Staffing Grant, LEAs will be required to allocate funds to develop and implement Tier II (targeted, small group interventions) and Tier III (intensive interventions) services in accordance with a multi-tiered system of supports framework that addresses students’ and educators’ mental health and social emotional needs through the hiring of staff, contracting with service providers, and/or providing professional development in effective implementation of Tier II and Tier III services.

Allocations for this grant will be made via a formula that assesses an LEA’s need to enhance its mental health support services based on four indicators:

1. Each LEA’s average rate of chronic absenteeism over the last two years;
2. Each LEA’s average suspension rate over the last two years;
3. Each LEA’s average rate of violent incidents reported to the DOE over the last two years; and
4. Each LEA’s average rate of substance abuse incidents reported to the DOE over the last two years.

Since December 27, 2023, the list of allowable activities under this set-aside was expanded to include services to support the biological, psychological, and social well-being of students in efforts to improve overall student mental health in accordance with a multi-tiered system of supports framework. 

The NJDOE will provide grants to all LEAs such that the highest-ranked 5% or “Tier III” LEAs (i.e. those most in need based on the above indicators) will receive the highest award amount; the next 15% or “Tier II” ranked LEAs will receive the second highest award amount; and the bottom 80% or “Tier I” ranked LEAs will receive the minimum allocation of $45,000. The allocations are also available on the ARP ESSER Allocation Table PDF.

The entirety of the allocation should be designed to increase access to school-based mental health supports and services for students by building or enhancing a tiered intervention model of comprehensive school-based mental health supports and services that are sustainable after the life of the grant. Planning Considerations have been developed to assist LEAs with determining the best use of their allocation.

Mental Health Supports and Services (Tier 2):

• Designate certificated staff and/or contracted provider to assess students who show signs of mental health concerns, including trauma
• Purchase valid and reliable assessment tools to assist in identifying students’ mental health needs
• Invest in a system, district-wide and within school buildings, to track students in need of referral to community-based mental health supports
• Develop a system, district-wide and within school buildings, to assist school-based personnel with follow-up activities and services
• Provide stipends to staff to implement mentoring programs, group interventions, check-in/check-out systems and/or in-school skill building groups (ie: social skills, problem solving skills, goal setting) for students with identified needs
• Provide stipends to certificated staff for home visits to follow-up on students who are identified through early-warning systems
• Contract with a mental health provider to provide brief individual and group therapeutic services to identified students
• Create partnerships with appropriate mental health providers to perform risk assessments for students in crisis to reduce or eliminate the use of emergency room visits for students with mental health needs and to directly link the student(s) to appropriate community-based services

Mental Health Supports and Services (Tier 3):

• Contract with a mental health provider to provide individual and group therapeutic services to identified students
• Contract with community agencies to provide family therapy and support to identified students
• Fund district mental health staff to provide after-school or before school gap services (ie: individual, group, and/or family therapy)
• Create a position, or contract with a provider, to individually assess students who are identified as having significant behavioral needs, develop behavior plans, and consult with teachers and support staff responsible for implementing the plans
• Provide staffing (ie: consultants, additional counseling staff, aides) to assist with the transition of students who may have been placed in out-of-school settings for Tier 3 interventions as they return to in-person learning

Mental Health Supports and Services Professional Development:

• Identify relevant professional development opportunities for I & RS team members to increase the team’s ability to develop plans for Tier 2 and Tier 3 behavior interventions
• Support CST implementation of individualized interventions with additional training or certifications.
• Provide more intensive training to counselors and/or CST in methods to identify students exhibiting signs of depression or suicidality
• Provide training to establish or enhance the skills of a crisis intervention team
• Provide training and technical assistance to educators in order to support students transitioning back from out-of-school settings for Tier 3 interventions as they return to in-person learning
• Pay for coverage in order to provide for release time so educators could receive training on mental health topics

Additional Resources to Support Development of MTSS Mental Health Support Staffing Application:

• NJDOE American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ARP ESSER)
• NJ Tiered System of Supports
• Center for Excellence for Infant & Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation
• National Center for School Mental Health
• Mental Health Technology Transfer Center Network
• School Health Assessment & Performance Evaluation System