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Data Biden-Harris Administration to Announce New Actions to Help Schools Reopen Safely and Meet Students’ Needs
                                                          Archived InformationBiden-Harris Administration to Announce New Actions to Help Schools Reopen Safely and Meet Students’ Needs
President Biden will announce $81 billion in funding from the American Rescue Plan to be released today to states for school re-opening
March 24, 2021
**Contact:** Press Office, (202) 401-1576, press@ed.gov
Today, at the National Safe School Reopening Summit  hosted by the U.S. Department of Education (Department), President Biden and  Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona will announce additional steps the  Biden-Harris Administration is taking to help schools safely and quickly reopen  and meet the needs of all students.
President Biden will announce that $81 billion of  American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds will be released today to all 50 States, the  District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to support their efforts  to get students back in the classroom safely for in person learning, keep  schools open once students are back, and address the academic, social,  emotional, and mental health needs of all students. Secretary Cardona also will  announce the launch of a new Summer Learning & Enrichment Collaborative, a  partnership between the Department and the Council of Chief State School  Officers and the National Governors Association, to help states use ARP funding  to develop high-quality summer learning and enrichment programs for all  students, with a focus on addressing the needs of student groups  disproportionately affected by COVID-19.
Today’s announcements are part of the Biden-Harris  Administration’s broader effort to provide states, schools, and communities  with the resources and support they need to return to in-person learning safely  and quickly, and achieve the President’s goal of reopening the majority of K-8  schools within the first 100 days of the administration. Secretary Cardona also  will announce that as part of this effort, he will travel to local school  districts over the coming weeks to listen and learn from them, and to help more  schools and districts in their efforts to reopen and stay open. The Secretary  will then report back to the White House on what he learns.
“It is my top priority to get students back in the  classroom for in-person instruction safely and quickly,” said Secretary  Cardona. “I continue to hear from students and educators across the country who  are eager to get back to in-person learning, and these resources will help  schools not only reopen safely, but also to support students who were falling  behind even before the pandemic. As states and schools use American Rescue Plan  funds to reopen their doors, the Department of Education is committed to  helping them build successful programs that will reach students most in need  this spring, summer, and into the fall.”
More details about the announcements include:
**President  Biden to Announce $81 Billion in American Rescue Plan Funding Available Today**
President Biden will announce that $81 billion in  American Rescue Plan funds will be made available for states today to support  their efforts to safely return to in-person instruction as expeditiously as  possible this spring and meet the needs of all students. The American Rescue  Plan’s Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ARP ESSER) fund  provides $122 billion in relief for Pre-K-12 schools to reopen safely and  address the academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs of their  students. As of today, two-thirds of the funds—$81 billion in total—will be  made available to states immediately. The Department of Education is  encouraging states to develop and implement plans to immediately utilize that  funding to get more schools opened safely this spring and work to close the  gaps in education equity that the pandemic has exacerbated. The remainder of  ARP ESSER funds will become available after states submit the plans they are  developing and implementing for using ARP ESSER funds to safely reopen schools  and meet the needs of students to the Department.	

Specific state allocations are listed below:
	
	
**State**
    **ARP    ESSER Fund Allocation Available March 24, 2021**
    **Total    ARP ESSER Fund Allocation**ALABAMA
    $1,346,713,644
    $2,020,070,466ALASKA
    239,138,089
    358,707,134ARIZONA
    1,721,399,131
    2,582,098,697ARKANSAS
    835,485,222
    1,253,227,833CALIFORNIA
    10,045,923,031
    15,068,884,546COLORADO
    777,552,421
    1,166,328,632CONNECTICUT
    737,279,916
    1,105,919,874DELAWARE
    273,822,643
    410,733,965DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
    257,544,769
    386,317,154FLORIDA
    4,692,164,292
    7,038,246,438GEORGIA
    2,832,914,163
    4,249,371,244HAWAII
    274,885,843
    412,328,764IDAHO
    293,294,694
    439,942,041ILLINOIS
    3,369,992,036
    5,054,988,054INDIANA
    1,329,822,704
    1,994,734,056IOWA
    516,344,144
    774,516,216KANSAS
    553,723,455
    830,585,182KENTUCKY
    1,389,848,771
    2,084,773,157LOUISIANA
    1,736,975,550
    2,605,463,325MAINE
    274,202,188
    411,303,282MARYLAND
    1,300,757,868
    1,951,136,802MASSACHUSETTS
    1,220,085,382
    1,830,128,073MICHIGAN
    2,479,888,752
    3,719,833,128MINNESOTA
    880,430,601
    1,320,645,901MISSISSIPPI
    1,084,798,569
    1,627,197,854MISSOURI
    1,304,352,810
    1,956,529,215MONTANA
    254,679,491
    382,019,236NEBRASKA
    363,939,079
    545,908,619NEVADA
    714,665,595
    1,071,998,392NEW HAMPSHIRE
    233,667,755
    350,501,633NEW JERSEY
    1,843,058,469
    2,764,587,703NEW MEXICO
    652,704,171
    979,056,256NEW YORK
    5,992,520,557
    8,988,780,836NORTH CAROLINA
    2,399,461,137
    3,599,191,706NORTH DAKOTA
    203,511,253
    305,266,879OHIO
    2,981,378,065
    4,472,067,097OKLAHOMA
    995,721,713
    1,493,582,570OREGON
    747,352,489
    1,121,028,734PENNSYLVANIA
    3,331,302,101
    4,996,953,151PUERTO RICO
    1,977,292,507
    2,965,938,760RHODE ISLAND
    276,677,073
    415,015,610SOUTH CAROLINA
    1,408,034,325
    2,112,051,487SOUTH DAKOTA
    254,679,491
    382,019,236TENNESSEE
    1,658,425,387
    2,487,638,081TEXAS
    8,279,059,186
    12,418,588,778UTAH
    410,350,713
    615,526,070VERMONT
    190,109,425
    285,164,138VIRGINIA
    1,406,327,167
    2,109,490,751WASHINGTON
    1,235,000,714
    1,852,501,071WEST VIRGINIA
    507,611,952
    761,417,928WISCONSIN
    1,027,189,903
    1,540,784,854WYOMING
    202,472,927
    303,709,391**TOTALS**
    **81,316,533,333**
    **121,974,800,000**
**Secretary  Cardona to Launch the Summer Learning & Enrichment Collaborative**
Too many students have experienced interruptions in  learning over the past year of the pandemic and have experienced effects on  their social and emotional wellbeing through time apart from friends and  community. Summer presents a key opportunity to accelerate learning for  students and provide new avenues for students to safely engage with each other  and in fun activities centered around their growth and development.
During the Summit, Secretary Cardona will announce the  launch of the Summer Learning & Enrichment Collaborative and call on states  to use ARP funding to build effective summer programs to help address the lost  instructional and extracurricular time students may have experienced as a  result of the pandemic, particularly for underserved communities. The Summer  Learning & Enrichment Collaborative is a professional learning community that  brings relevant stakeholders to the table to discuss how to build effective  plans for high-quality, evidence-based summer learning and enrichment. The  Collaborative, in partnership with the Council of Chief State School Officers  and the National Governors Association, will launch in April 2021 and bring  education leaders and experts together as they develop their plans for this  summer, with a focus on students who have been disproportionately impacted by  the pandemic. The Collaborative will help build capacity for states and school  districts, in partnership with other key stakeholders, to use ARP ESSER funds  to identify and implement evidence-based summer learning and enrichment  strategies that meet the needs of all students. The Collaborative will build  and deepen partnerships across states, districts, and among educators, parents,  philanthropy, and non-profit partners to scale up and sustain successful  programs. More than $1.2 billion of the ARP ESSER funds will be used by states,  school districts, and schools to offer evidence-based summer learning and  enrichment programs, and states and districts may use billions of dollars more  for these vital programs.
**Secretary  Cardona to Launch School Reopening Tour**
Secretary Cardona will also announce that he will travel  to local communities in the coming weeks as part of the Department’s ongoing  efforts to support states, schools, students, parents, and educators as they  navigate returning to in-person learning. In the weeks following the Summit,  Secretary Cardona will visit schools that have successfully reopened and stayed  open to listen and learn from their experiences; he will also visit schools  that are facing roadblocks and challenges as they work to reopen to provide  support and technical assistance. He will meet with educators, students, and  district leaders during the tour and discuss reopening strategies including  implementing CDC’s recommended mitigation measures for K-12 schools, ensuring  reopening efforts are advancing equity, and supporting students and communities  most impacted by COVID-19.
Secretary Cardona will share what he is hearing and  learning on the visits with other states and districts and across the  Biden-Harris Administration to help more schools reopen quickly and safely and  reach the President’s goal of reopening the majority of K-8 schools within the  first 100 days of his administration.
His engagement with schools will help to highlight what’s  working in school reopening across the country, share out key lessons with  other schools who are engaged in the same effort, and help to leverage the  Administration’s whole-of-government approach to COVID-19 response to make sure  we are rapidly and safely accelerating toward reopening all schools.
These announcements are part of a series of steps the  Biden-Harris Administration has taken to help schools reopen, including  releasing Volume 1 of the COVID-19 Handbook, creating a “Safer Schools and  Campuses Best Practices Clearinghouse” that will be released next month,  calling on states to prioritize vaccinations for Pre-K-12 teachers and staff,  and directing billions in funding to states for COVID-19 screening testing for  educators, students, and staff in schools.
Tags:    National Safe School Reopening SummitPress Releases
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