OPI holds discussion on COVID funds with obligation deadline at the end of the month

The Office of Public Instruction said during a discussion about the status of COVID-19-era funding that Montana schools benefited, specifically those that added mental health professionals and teachers.

The Office of Public Instruction in Helena.

THOM BRIDGE, Independent Record

Representatives from OPI and Montana State University gave the public insight Sept. 5 on how the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds (ESSER) have impacted school districts since it was allocated in 2020 and set to expire at the end of September.

Montana was awarded $605,318,735 in total over three phases including funding for “non-public” institutions, from the federal government in 2020. The funds were allocated to districts based on their Title I student counts.

ESSER III’s obligation deadline is Sept. 30 and it will officially close in November. Wendi Fawns, ESSER director at OPI, said, the funding was available for schools and districts to use for educational purposes. She highlighted that the public can view the allocations and activity on a monthly basis via the OPI website for each school district.

People are also reading…

View Source