Dear County Superintendents of Schools:

Seventeenth Apportionment for Elementary and
Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds,
of the American Rescue Plan Act,
Fiscal Year 2020–21

This apportionment, in the amount of $722,670, is made from federal funds provided to the state under the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act, Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER III) Section 2001 (Public Law 117–2). ESSER III funds are apportioned to local educational agencies (LEAs) to address the impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) on elementary and secondary schools. State awards for the ESSER III Fund are in the same proportion as each state received under Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended in fiscal year 2020–21. Each state must use no less than 90 percent of its allocation ($13,571,726,487) to make subgrants to LEAs, based on each LEA’s share of funds received under Title I, Part A in fiscal year 2020–21 or funds received under Title I, Part A in fiscal year 2021–22 for new or significantly expanding charter schools. Access additional information relating to the apportionment of ESSER III funds for fiscal year 2020–21 at https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/fo/r14/esseriii20apptoverview.asp.

Only those LEAs that applied for ESSER III funds on the 2020–21 ESSER III Assurances by December 17, 2021, are eligible for this apportionment. This apportionment provides ESSER III payments to LEAs who received notification from California Department of Education (CDE) indicating they had unexpended and unobligated ESSER III funds as of the 2024 Fall Quarterly Reporting cycle and were subsequently allowed to report additional allowable expenditures during the 2024 Winter Quarterly Reporting period for Federal Stimulus funds. In addition to the notification from CDE, California Virtual Academy @ San Joaquin and Dunsmuir Elementary also received approval for a late liquidation request.

LEAs may use ESSER III funds for any allowable expenditure incurred on or after March 13, 2020, the date the President declared the national emergency due to
COVID-19. LEAs can use ESSER III funds for any activities authorized by the ESEA as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act, or the Perkins Career and Technical Education Act. Additional information can be found on the ARP Act ESSER III page at

County superintendents were notified of this apportionment by email sent to their CDEfisc email addresses. The California Department of Education (CDE) requested that the email be forwarded to all school districts and charter schools in the county, and included the links to this letter and the accompanying apportionment schedule posted on the ESSER III results web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/fo/r14/esseriii20result.asp.

If you have any program-related questions regarding ESSER III, such as allowable uses of funds or federal compliance requirements, please contact the CDE Federal Stimulus Team by email at EdReliefFunds@cde.ca.gov or visit the CDE web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/cr/arpact.asp. For questions concerning this apportionment or the ESSER III allocation amounts, please contact the Categorical Allocations and Audit Resolution Office by email at CAAR@cde.ca.gov.

Sincerely,

Tami Pierson, Director
School Fiscal Services Division