3 Ways ESSER Funds Can Be Used For Communications

Schools nationwide are taking advantage of CARES or ESSER funding, a one-time influx of federal emergency relief funds to address the impact of COVID-19. The scope of acceptable uses for this funding often leaves school communicators and superintendents wondering what constitutes acceptable uses for improving communications and community engagement.

Luckily, that's the name of the game here at SchoolInfo! Improving communications and increasing family and community engagement is what gets us out of bed in the mornings. So, we thought we'd breakdown some of the ways these funds can be directly applied to school communications, and where SchoolInfo can help.

Allowable Use 1: Any activity authorized by the ESEA of 1965, including the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.) (‘‘IDEA’’).

Website accessibility and compliance are no longer emerging issues. If you are struggling to reach or maintain compliance, ESSER funding could be your opportunity to get started. At SchoolInfo, we can help you redesign your website into a beautiful, modern, and ADA compliant website with zero stress. 

Allowable Use 2: 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.

School communication has been essential throughout this pandemic. Next to health and safety, it is often cited as the next most critical need of a district or school today. Your website and digital communications tools are at the center of that strategy. By coupling a branded mobile app for your school with a new website, you'll be able to allocate these funds towards keeping your community informed. 

Allowable use 3: 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.

Better meeting the needs of low-income students and English learners has risen to the top of many district’s to-do lists. When COVID first emerged, gaps in communication due to lack of translation or internet access presented themselves more clearly than ever before. Ensuring all families are able to access your district’s communications, regardless of the language they speak, is essential, and also a permissible expense using ESSER funding. A mobile app by SchoolInfo is available in over 35 languages. All content in the app (outside of conversations or your uploaded documents) will be translated. Current languages include: Spanish, French, Afrikaans, Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Filipino, German, Haitian Creole, Hebrew, Hindi, Hmong, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Marathi, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Russian, Sesotho, Somali, Swahili, Tamil, Telugu, Turkish, Urdu, Vietnamese and Zulu.

So there you have it! There are several ways to utilize this funding to improve district communications that will set your community up for a more successful (and informed) school year ahead. SchoolInfo is on your side to assist in any and every way. Want to learn even more about using these funds to increase your communication efforts? Schedule a demo with us today!