From the governor’s office: Gov. Evers today announced that 155 local education agencies (LEAs) are eligible to apply for the $46.6 million provided to Wisconsin through the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund (GEER Fund), established under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The announcement comes as last month the governor announced more than $80 million in financial assistance for K-12 schools and higher education.
A map of most impacted school districts is available here. A list of eligible GEER funding for school districts, independent charters, and tribal schools is available here.
Based on recommendations from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) and in consultation with State Superintendent Carolyn Stanford Taylor, the governor outlined eligibility criteria for schools most significantly impacted by COVID-19 based on economic disadvantage, access to personal computing devices, access to internet, and students’ score on the English Language Arts Assessment. Wisconsin’s three tribal schools will also receive the same per pupil payment as the 155 LEAs. The GEER Fund is in addition to the $174.8 million that Wisconsin received through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER Fund).
In collaboration with the Governor’s Office, the DPI will provide additional information about applying for the funds.
Editor’s Note: Under the CARES Act, the GEER funds are to be used “to provide emergency support through grants to local educational agencies that the state education agency deems to have been the most significantly impacted by the coronavirus to support the ability of such local educational agencies to continue to provide educational services to their students and to support the on-going functionality of the local educational agency.”
