Aurora talks ESSER III funds, buses

On more routine back-to-school board meeting topics, the 4R board briefly discussed the upcoming third round of ESSER funding, in which the Aurora school district would be receiving $1,068,000. 
This set of funds “are being handled differently” than the last two, Supt. Jody Phillips introduced, and therefore comes with a different set of requirements to ensure the district receives the money as reimbursement after the initial spending.
Part of these requirements for ESSER III includes that the district have a “safe return to school plan” in place that will get updated, or reapproved, every six months. The district updated and reapproved their plan later during Monday’s meeting.
“We have some of that going to mental health,” Phillips said of the funding. “One of the initial requirements is 20 percent of that has to be to learning loss and so the way in which we are looking at that right now is our English-Language Arts curriculum, which is up for adoption right now. Between that and summer school for the next two summers, that would surpass the 20 percent (needed).” 

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