Trumansburg ARP Information

Click the Logo to the left to go to the New York State Education Department for information on the ARP grant process and expectations.

Overview

The Trumansburg Central School District has applied for the American Rescue Plan funds through the New York State Education Department  within the Elementary and Secondary School Relief Fund (ESSER).  Below are the highlights of our application and the goals which we intend to meet with this funding.

The driving force behind our plan is to improve the experience of our students as we all work to overcome the impacts of COVID-19 on our school community.   The Trumansburg Central School District is eligible for up to $1,474,275 as part of the ESSER application.  Additional funds will be made available through the Governor's Emergency Education Relief Fund (GEER) and the site will be updated as we apply for those funds.

Break Down of Federal ESSER Funding at TCSD

61% of the ARP funds will be utilized to increase staffing needs to support students as they return to more normal school experiences.  The positions included in this are three additional "Responding To Intervention" (RTI) Specialists (one at each building), one Technology Integration Specialist (district wide), and then stipends for existing staff to serve as technology coaches within each building.  All of these positions are fully grant funded for the next three years through the ESSER funds, and the districts goal will be to shift them to district funding as the grant concludes.  RTI Specialists will be working collaboratively with staff in each building to support students with learning gaps brought on by the lost instructional time related to COVID-19 school closures and other interruptions.  The Technology Integration Specialist position is intended to support all district staff with the infusion of software and online intervention programs that the district has introduced during the last year.  This includes things like our BrightSpace software, the PAPER tutoring program, and many other programs that provide students with support and assessment experiences.   

14% of the ARP funds will be used to purchase technology services that support student learning and safety.  These include: BrightSpace Learning Management Software, PAPER Education online tutoring, IXL Learning Platform with content specific support, and Tyler Technologies transportation software.   (Links to some of these resources can be found on the district's homepage from the menu button under the "Families" category.) 

Finally, 25% of the ARP funds have been allocated for equipment purchases.  Portions of this will support the installation of WiFi access points on district busses as well as the hardware necessary to implement the Tyler Technologies software which uses WiFi and GPS to track bus routes and update those routes in times of emergency.  Other equipment purchases will include furniture intended to support instructional shifts to block scheduling in the High School, and shifts to project based learning at all three buildings.  New furniture will allow for greater flexibility and comfort in classrooms.

The TCSD Application for the ARP ESSER Grant can be found here: ARP-ESSER Application Part 2

Breakdown of State Reserve ESSER Funding at TCSD

The state reserve funding is broken down into three components: 5% to apply to programs specifically designed to address learning loss and the impacts of COVID 19 on student social and emotional learning,  1% to utilize for after school programming and interventions, and 1% to provide for summer interventions and enrichment activities.  Here is how our district intends to provide these services.

The 5% Intervention money will provide for the continuation of three counseling positions (one at each school).  These positions are existing and have been paid for out of other grants previously.  These positions will allow our district to continue to provide high quality social and emotional learning activities within classrooms and in individual settings for those student of highest need.  These counselors will also assist in the coordination of our Panorama Survey which is used to identify those students that are at risk for a variety of social and emotional issues.  This portion of the grant funds will also provide for an additional Reading Specialist position that will be added at our middle school, where we have identified a high level of need for this service. 

The 1% for after school programming will allow us to add a regular after school tutoring program for the next two years.  Grant funds will allow for the creation of a tutoring coordinator position as well as for regular tutoring at all three school buildings for students who are exhibiting learning loss related to COVID 19.

The 1% for summer intervention and enrichment will be used to create two summer programs.  The first will be a summer reading program that will include reading interventions for students in small groups over the course of  weeks of the summer.  The second program will be a STEAM based Lego Learning enrichment program that will run for three weeks each summer.  The grant will also allow for transportation to and from both programs for students in need of that assistance as well as for a healthy school lunch.

The TCSD Application for the ARP State Reserve Grant can be found here: ARP State Reserve Application

For more information:

Community members who are interested in learning more about this and other funding related issues in the TCSD are encouraged to attend one of our Board of Education meetings (which are currently being run virtually).  Specific questions may be emailed to the district's business office (email address here).