PUTNAM COUNTY – The Putnam County School System (PCSS) is scheduled to receive approximately $20.6 million in ESSER 3.0 funding from the Tennessee Department of Education to address learning loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a safe return to school. The PCSS is wanting the public to give feedback on how the money is to be spent and will launch a survey the week of July 12.
“We are in need of several stakeholder groups in our community to participate in a survey to best determine how the resources should be utilized to address the needs of our district to continue ensuring safety as our students return to school,” said Bridgett Carwile, Federal Programs Supervisor for the PCSS. “These are one-time funds, and we have certain restrictions on how we can use them. We want to make decisions that will sustain after the funds have been spent by 2024. For instance, if we hire a school counselor, we have to be able to sustain their salary once the money is spent. A survey will be launching the week of July 12, and we are asking our community and families to take the time to submit feedback on how they feel these funds should be used to ensure a safe return to school.”
The ESSER 3.0 Community Engagement survey will focus on:
- Academic Success for All – Which addresses (but is not limited to) learning loss, teacher/staff development, instructional workforce, student sub-groups such as English Language Learners (ELL), tutoring opportunities, etc.
- All Means All – Which addresses (but is not limited to) the “whole student” from mental health to social emotional needs and social / academic interventions.
- Facilities – Which addresses (but is not limited to) building expansions, maintenance and projects.
- College and Career Readiness – Which addresses (but is not limited to) ACT prep and programs of study offerings.
An email will be sent out to families in the PCSS for them to take the survey, but anyone in the community can find the ESSER 3.0 Community Engagement survey at www.pcsstn.com/ESSER. It will also be posted on PCSS’s social media pages on Facebook (@pcsstn), Instagram (@pcsstn) and Twitter (@pcsstn). Survey will end July 21, 2021.