SANY Superintendent Dr. Tolga Hayali's message
Dear SANY Community,
On March 11, 2021, the President signed into law the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA). ARPA makes available $122.8 billion nationally for Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds.
New York has been allocated nearly $9 billion in ARP-ESSER funds, with a minimum of $8.09 billion (90 percent) going to local education agencies, including charter schools.
Local education agencies, such as school districts, that receive funding from the Federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund allocated by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP-ESSER) to post on their website a plan of how these funds will be spent.
School districts are required to seek public comment from parents, teachers, and other stakeholders and take such comments into account in the development of the plan. I invite you to participate in our surveys and public meetings scheduled to receive recommendations and feedback on the use of these funds from our District stakeholders and the public. Your feedback will be used to inform strategic planning to develop our plan to use the funds.
Our administrative team and other committees composed of teachers, staff members, district leadership, parents and community members will review the plan components during public meetings and surveys.
If you have any questions about the ARP-ESSER plan, please contact us at 315-671-5470.
Sincerely,
Dr.Tolga Hayali
Superintendent
Public Meeting Announcement
Tuesday, August 10th, 2021—Utica Academy of Science Charter School is seeking input from our stakeholders in regards to the American Rescue Plan. On March 11, 2021, the President signed into law the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA). ARPA makes available $122.8 billion nationally for Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds. We want to hear from you with suggestions on how to utilize this funding to best support our students.
Please click here to complete this survey at https://www.uascs.org/arpa as soon as possible.
Please note, Utica Academy of Science will be holding an ARPA Public Meeting on Monday, August 18th at its Frankfort location at 2:00 PM. We hope you can join us!
American Rescue Plan Documents
American Rescue Plan Information
Accessing ARP ESSER Plan
It is announced that stakeholders can access the hardcopy ARP ESSER Plan at the school's district office location which is located at 1409 W. Genesee St, Syracuse NY 13204.
Use of Funds
School districts must use not less than 20 percent of ESSER funds to address learning loss through the implementation of evidence-based interventions, such as summer learning or summer enrichment, extended day, comprehensive after school programs, or extended school year programs, and ensure that such interventions respond to students’ academic, social, and emotional needs and address the disproportionate impact of the coronavirus on students (specifically those identified by gender, major racial and ethnic groups, economically disadvantaged students, children with disabilities, English learners, migrant students, students experiencing homelessness, and children and youth in foster care).
School districts must use the remaining funds for any of the following:
- Any activity authorized by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.
- Any activity authorized by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
- Any activity authorized by the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act.
- Any activity authorized by the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006.
- Coordination of preparedness and response efforts of local educational agencies with State, local, Tribal, and territorial public health departments, and other relevant agencies, to improve coordinated responses among such entities to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus.
- 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.
- Developing and implementing procedures and systems to improve the preparedness and response efforts of local educational agencies.
- Training and professional development for staff of the local educational agency on sanitation and minimizing the spread of infectious diseases.
- Purchasing supplies to sanitize and clean the facilities of a local educational agency, including buildings operated by such agency.
- Planning for, coordinating, and implementing activities during long-term closures, including providing meals to eligible students, providing technology for online learning to all students, providing guidance for carrying out requirements under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and ensuring other educational services can continue to be provided consistent with all Federal, State, and local requirements.
- Purchasing educational technology (including hardware, software, and connectivity) for students who are served by the local educational agency that aids in regular and substantive educational interaction between students and their classroom instructors, including low-income students and children with disabilities, which may include assistive technology or adaptive equipment.
- Providing mental health services and support, including through the implementation of evidence-based full-service community schools.
- Planning and implementing activities related to summer learning and supplemental after-school programs, including providing classroom instruction or online learning during the summer months and addressing the needs of low-income students, children with disabilities, English learners, migrant students, students experiencing homelessness, and children in foster care.
- Addressing learning loss among students, including low-income students, children with disabilities, English learners, racial and ethnic minorities, students experiencing homelessness, and children and youth in foster care, of the local educational agency, including by—
- administering and using high-quality assessments that are valid and reliable, to accurately assess students’ academic progress and assist educators in meeting students’ academic needs, including through differentiating instruction;
- implementing evidence-based activities to meet the comprehensive needs of students;
- providing information and assistance to parents and families on how they can effectively support students, including in a distance learning environment; and
- tracking student attendance and improving student engagement in distance education.
- School facility repairs and improvements to enable operation of schools to reduce risk of virus transmission and exposure to environmental health hazards, and to support student health needs.
- Inspection, testing, maintenance, repair, replacement, and upgrade projects to improve the indoor air quality in school facilities, including mechanical and non-mechanical heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems, filtering, purification, and other air cleaning, fans, control systems, and window and door repair and replacement.
- Developing strategies and implementing public health protocols including, to the greatest extent practicable, policies in line with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the reopening and operation of school facilities to effectively maintain the health and safety of students, educators, and other staff.
- Other activities that are necessary to maintain the operation of and continuity of services in local educational agencies and continue to employ an existing staff of the local educational agency.
Maximizing in-person instruction time, Implementing evidence-based strategies to meet students’ social, emotional, mental health, and academic needs.
Our plan includes needs to maximize in-person instruction time and provide social, emotional support through the 2021-2022 academic year and following school years with the following implementations:
- Hiring new intervention teachers to work specifically with students who struggle with reading and math. Based upon the evidence of successful implementation, funding for this position will be included in budget considerations for subsequent years, thereby allocating local funds once federal funds are no longer available.
- Hiring additional counselors to support students' social-emotional needs.
Purchase of Educational Technology
Our plan includes needs in the area of educational technology:
- Including new Chromebooks, smartboards, and additional instructional technology materials and programs.
Addressing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on all students, including low-income students, students with disabilities, English language learners, and students experiencing homelessness by offering evidence-based summer, afterschool, and other extended learning and enrichment programs.
Our plan includes the need to address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on all students through the following programs:
- Instituting a Summer School to provide extended learning and enrichment programs for all of our learners to include accelerated learners throughout the summer.
- Structured academic after-school programming for all applicable grades. Certified teachers will be available both before and after school to assist students to address the loss of learning from the pandemic.
