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Alabama Department of Education lays out plan and workbook to guide districts’ COVID recovery spending
Summary
State education staff previewed a draft recovery‑plan workbook to help school districts spend ESSER funds on research‑aligned remediation, professional development, mental‑health services and program evaluation.
Department of Education staff presented a draft recovery‑plan framework and workbook intended to guide local education agencies as they complete federal ESSER/ARP spending plans and the state recovery plan. Staff said they will release a manual and an Excel workbook to help districts and will offer technical assistance between March and May.
The workbook pairs a narrative plan with tabs for budgeting, allowing districts to mark allowable funding sources (local, state, ESSER I/II/ARP) and to link proposed activities to research‑based practices. Staff emphasized three pillars that would structure local plans: high‑quality instructional materials, high‑quality professional development tied to district needs, and targeted time for students to address unfinished learning. The materials include rubrics for reviewing proposed curricula and a checklist style “assessment” (C2/C3) districts can use before drafting plans.
Staff said the department will require districts to submit plans earlier than many states (March–May window) so department staff can help resolve issues before schools resume in August. The department will hold virtual office hours and provide sustained technical assistance; regional literacy specialists and counseling/mental‑health coordinators will be on call to aid local implementation. For the subset of districts in the state’s lowest performance band that qualify for fully funded summer programs, the department will provide a template for pre‑/post‑assessment and a spreadsheet for reporting progress monitoring data.
Staff said the workbook supports district decision‑making across academic remediation, mental‑health supports and facility needs, and includes sample budgets to estimate costs for common strategies such as summer acceleration academies, stipends for summer PD and supplemental instructional materials.
The board asked for copies of the draft and for staff to circulate the workbook and other materials to remote board members; staff said the materials are in draft form and will be updated before final distribution.
