State & Federal Funding

Contact Information

If you have questions, please contact the following:

ESSER
Amy Harris

EANS
Sheila Gerrish
Amy Harris

Accounting
Paul Stone

Expenditure Reporting
Michelle Matakas

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government has provided schools with three rounds of Elementary and Secondary Schools Emergency Relief (ESSER) Funds. In total, Local Education Agencies (LEAs) in Washington will receive over $2.5 billion for expenditures related to COVID-19 response. While many of the rules provided by the federal government and the state have remained consistent between all three rounds of funding, there are some slight differences including but not limited to a period of allowable use and the basis for making claims against ESSER funds. For questions, please contact our Chief Financial Officer, T.J. Kelly.

School District Claims of all ESSER Funds

The ESSER District Summary shows school district claims of ESSER federal relief funds by activity and object as defined in the accounting structure for local education agencies (LEA) in Washington. The second tab of the workbook allows the user to filter by LEA and/or funding source to learn how the entity is using its federal relief funds. Please read the introduction tab of the workbook for information regarding the different accounting codes represented in the data set. This file will be updated periodically with current information as districts continue to claim these funds. For questions on this file please contact Michelle Matakas or T.J. Kelly.

Enrollment Stabilization Funds Request for School Year 2021-22

OSPI is requesting that the legislature ensures K-12 enrollment stabilization funding for the 2021-22 school year by maintaining their planned funding levels for the current fiscal year. This is critical to support an equitable learning recovery for each student. The Enrollment Stabilization Policy workbook provides context around the calculations and a district-by-district projected impact.

Please note that this is a proposal only. OSPI cannot act on this proposal without legislative action through bill or budget in the upcoming 2022 legislative session.

U.S. Department of Education ESSER Guidance

This Combined ESSER Awards spreadsheet shows each LEAs combined ESSER award amount (ESSER I, II, and III). If you have any questions, please contact T.J. Kelly.

June 1, 2021 Update

Federal ESSER Use of Funds Questions and Answers Document (December 2022)

This document represents the latest guidance from the federal government regarding the use of Elementary and Secondary Schools Emergency Relief (ESSER) Funds. Please review the entire document if looking to answer a specific question. The document does state, in general, when asking whether an activity is an allowable use of funds, a State or LEA must determine:

  • Is the use of funds intended to prevent, prepare for, or respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, including its impact on the social, emotional, mental health and academic needs of students?
  • Does the use of funds fall under one of the authorized uses of ESSER or GEER funds?
  • Is the use of funds permissible under the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Grant Guidance, 2 CFR Part 200)? In particular, is it necessary and reasonable for the performance of the ESSER or GEER award?

Also, the document clearly states that lost revenue is not an allowable claim. All claims on ESSER II and III funds must be supported by allowable expenditures which have already been incurred.

April 20, 2021 Update

Comparison of the Maintenance of Effort Requirements in the CARES Act, the CRRSA Act, and the ARP Act. This document walks through the various MOE requirements of the different rounds of federal COVID relief funding for schools. This is an excerpt of a more comprehensive document that can be found at Guidance on Maintenance of Effort Requirements and Waiver Requests under the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund and the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) Fund. As stated in the more comprehensive document, the Department of Education will be releasing separate guidance on the new State and local educational agency (LEA) maintenance of equity requirements in section 2004(b) and (c) of the ARP Act in the near future. When this guidance is released, we will make it available on this webpage.

March 23, 2021 Update

Comparison of Federal COVID-19 Relief Funding Sources and State Funding. This document details some of the key similarities and differences of the federal COVID-19 relief funding streams including statewide total amounts, period of availability, allocation methodology, accounting revenue codes, and required uses of funding. As a reminder, each of these federal funding streams needs specific authorization from the legislature via law or unanticipated receipts process before OSPI can make funds available to districts.

June 25, 2020 Update

A detailed questions and answers (Q&A) document for school districts about the distribution of ESSER funds, allowable uses, requirements, and more. As districts receive their portion of ESSER funds, OSPI has four priorities that we expect districts will make priorities in their work, as well.

Maintenance of Equity

Maintenance of Equity (MOEquity) is a new compliance requirement in the American Rescue Plan for ESSER III. Specifically, MOEquity ensures the following:

  • An SEA does not disproportionately reduce per-pupil State funding to high-need LEAs.
  • An SEA does not reduce per-pupil State funding to the highest-poverty LEAs below their FY 2019 level.
  • An LEA does not disproportionately reduce State and local per-pupil funding in high-poverty schools.
  • An LEA does not disproportionately reduce the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) staff per pupil in high-poverty schools.

OSPI allows LEAs to use the ranking and allocating method to measure their high-poverty schools.

The Maintenance of Equity Requirements FAQs represent the latest guidance from the US Department of Education on Maintenance of Equity.

The FY22 MOE Exception and FY23 MOE Exception fulfill a federal requirement of sharing information related to ARP MOEquity requirements. The files contain information related to LEAs that received MOEquity exemptions for FY22 and FY23, the identity of high-poverty schools for LEAs that were not exempted for FY22 and FY23, and the assurances that non-exempt districts are making to maintain equity at their high-poverty schools. If you have questions, please contact Amy Harris or T.J. Kelly.

MOEquity Exceptions

Exceptions: Under section 2004(c)(2) of the ARP Act, an LEA is exempted from the local maintenance of equity requirements if the LEA:

  1. Has a total enrollment of less than 1,000 students;
  2. Operates a single school;
  3. Serves all students within each grade span with a single school; or
  4. Demonstrates an exceptional or uncontrollable circumstance*.

*LEAs can demonstrate an exceptional or uncontrollable circumstance if the LEA did not have an aggregate reduction in combined state and local per pupil funding in FY23.

If you have any questions, please contact the Maintenance of Equity team.

Accounting for COVID-Related Expenditures

 

ESSER Claim I, II, & III Tools | Accounting Guidelines

The COVID-related expenditure tool is now available for ESSER I, ESSER II, ESSER III Learning recovery, and ESSER III claims. To claim funds, districts are expected to submit a reimbursement through their iGrants system as well as the expenditure tools below. Forms are now available for both SY 2020-21 and SY 2021-22. In preparation for submitting claims for CARES Act funding disbursement, districts should follow the directions in the appropriate tool and submit their COVID-related expenditures since March 2020 using the applicable link:

The COVID-19 situation is considered a subsequent event for accounting purposes, which needs to be disclosed in the notes to the 2018–19 financial statements for school district audit reports that are being issued now. A subsequent event is a significant event that occurs after fiscal year-end, but before the financial statements have been issued. The financial impacts may not be known at this time, but there are significant operational impacts and schools are operating in an environment that is vastly different than just a few months ago. OSPI has created a template for the note required to be added to the financial statement.

OSPI has prepared accounting guidelines to provide a framework through which districts can identify COVID-related expenditures. The guidelines also include a preview of the data reporting template for those expenditures. These expenditures will be reported through a supplemental reporting tool and will not be separately identified in each school district’s financial statement (F-196) this fall.

Emergency Relief for Non-Public Schools (EANS)

 

OSPI Contractors for EANS Direct Services

We have completed the contracts with the vendors below to provide direct services for the EANS program. These vendors may provide the following direct services:

  • Training and professional development on sanitization, use of PPE, and minimizing the spread of disease.
  • Redeveloping instructional plans, including curriculum development, for remote or hybrid learning, or to address learning loss.
  • Initiating and maintaining education and support services or assistance for remote learning, hybrid learning, or to address learning loss.

If you are interested in utilizing these services, you will need to ensure your EANS application and budget reflect this. After you have made a decision regarding which vendor you wish to work with, you will need to contact the vendor directly. This vendor will work with you to develop a plan that best fits your needs. The vendor will send OSPI an invoice monthly for the services performed at each school and the costs associated with those services. OSPI will reduce the school’s allocation for the costs of those services. Any costs above the amount the school budgeted for these services in the EANS application will be the responsibility of the school.

Please contact EANS for any questions regarding the EANS program.

Resources

FINAL EANS I Payment Amounts posted April 11, 2024
This document provides schools who have submitted payment request after September 25, 2023 their final payment amounts. 

ESSER EANS Expenditure Claims
As a condition of payment of funds, non-public schools must also report expenditures in the OSPI EANS Expenditure Smartsheet tool, see link above. Please fill out the Smartsheet tool each time you submit a monthly claim for reimbursement. It will be used to report data for the EANS program to the US Department of Education.

Instructions for Completing Phase II Application (FP – 121)
This document will walk you through the different pages and steps within the application in the iGrants system including getting access to the iGrants system and the following pages: EANS Assurances and Determination of Eligibility, Non-Public School Data, Non-Public School Services and Assistance, and the Budget Matrix. In addition, this document provides an overview of the steps needed to submit a claim for your EANS allocation.

EANS Allowable Activities and Budget Matrix Codes
This document provides a high-level overview of allowable EANS activities, the budget coding for such activities, and examples of such expenditures.

Form 1000E
Schools should use this form to request reimbursement from EANS funds. Schools can do that once per month, or less frequently if desired.

ESSER III Restatement
This restatement is for non-Title I recipient school district or local educational agencies.

Instructions for Filling Out the 1000E for Claims Purpose

Process to Access Services for Emergency Assistance to Non-Public Schools