Stakeholder Engagement on ESSER Funds
Des Moines Public Schools believes that when we engage families and the community as authentic education partners, the learning becomes more dynamic, and students can grow academically, socially, and emotionally. The global pandemic has limited our community engagements over the past 15 months. We look forward to a renewed focus on community feedback opportunities for district plans as we get out of the mode of reacting in the moment to new realities brought on by a pandemic and move back into long-term strategic action.
Towards that goal, on Tuesday, July 20 DMPS held a meeting of its July Stakeholder Engagement Advisory Committee (SEAC) share its board goal action plans as well as present and receive feedback on draft plans for utilizing the American Rescue Plan’s Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds.
The session included a review of district goals, a presentation on initial plans for using the federal ESSER funds, and small group conversations that focused on four key areas that will benefit from the funds: (1) Unfinished Learning; (2) Social-Emotional Learning/Mental Health Services; (3) Technology; and (4) Facilities.
The district is making this presentation available to anyone with an interest in this important topic. The sections below include both the presentations as well as videos from each section of the SEAC meeting. In addition, at the bottom of the page is a link to a form to share your input on how DMPS can use ESSER funds to support our students after a year interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
INTRODUCTION & OVERVIEW
To begin the session, Superintendent Ahart provided a welcome and overview of the SEAC meeting along with a review of some of the school district’s goals and objectives.
CFO Shashank Aurora gave a review of ESSER and the various ways these federal funds can support DMPS and its students following the impact of the global pandemic.
Click here to download a PDF of this presentation.
Click here to view this portion of the SEAC meeting on YouTube.
UNFINISHED LEARNING
The pandemic did not create the academic gaps that exist today. It did, however, exacerbate and widen those gaps, furthering the need to provide additional supports for students who lost out on too many learning opportunities over the past several months.
ESSER funds will allow DMPS to accelerate plans and aggressively tackle gaps that existed well before COVID-19, and to do so in a way that meets our goal of greater educational equity for all students.
Download the presentation and/or view the video to learn more about this critical work.
Click here to download a PDF of this presentation.
Click here to view this portion of the SEAC meeting on YouTube.
SOCIAL & EMOTIONAL LEARNING
Meeting the social and emotional needs of students and providing greater supports for their mental health well-being plays an important role in helping them succeed both in and out of school. Find out how federal relief funds may allow DMPS to do more during this critical time.
In addition, see how the district’s Community School program is engaging with students and their families
Download the presentation and/or view the video to find out more about how DMPS will meet these important needs.
Click here to download a PDF of this presentation.
Click here to view this portion of the SEAC meeting on YouTube.
TECHNOLOGY
The pandemic furthered not only gaps in academic achievement but revealed another important gap: technology. In the year 2021, access to technology and the internet is not a luxury, it is an important tool for life to students and adults alike.
With ESSER funds, DMPS will be able to do more to meet our goal of providing each student access to a technology device, help families with internet access, support the on-going growth of our Virtual Campus, and much more.
Download the presentation and/or view the video to find out more of how DMPS will close the technology gap.
Click here to download a PDF of this presentation.
Click here to view this portion of the SEAC meeting on YouTube.
OPERATIONAL ENHANCEMENTS
Creating a healthy, safe and comfortable environment in our schools contributes to our students’ success and the well-being of all.
Throughout the pandemic, mitigation has contributed to our health and safety efforts, from increased air circulation to installed devices such as hand sanitizers and water bottle filling stations to enhance custodial services. Federal ESSER funds will further support this work and more throughout the schools of DMPS.
Download the presentation and/or view the video to find out more about how the DMPS Operations staff supports safe and healthy schools.
Click here to download a PDF of this presentation.
Click here to view this portion of the SEAC meeting on YouTube.
WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU
After reviewing the materials above, you are invited to share you thoughts on the priorities for how ESSER funds are used to help Des Moines Public Schools recover and support students. This brief survey will be open and available to complete until October 1, 2021.
Click here to complete the survey.
Thank you to everyone who has shared their feedback and input on the use of ESSER funds at DMPS. Click here to see some of the comments provided to date.