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Board reviews ESSER spending and emergency-levy expenditures as ESSER program winds down
Summary
District leaders presented a final review of ESSER 3 and an update on emergency-levy spending, saying ESSER 3 funds (about $5 million) must be obligated and largely spent by late 2024 and that emergency-levy dollars funded HVAC work, LED lighting, buses and staff positions.
Cuyahoga Falls City School District finance and operations staff gave the board a closing review of ESSER 3 funds and a recap of emergency-levy spending during the Sept. 11 meeting.
Presenters said the district received a bit more than $5 million in ESSER 3 funding and reviewed timelines for obligating and spending those funds (obligation deadlines and final spending deadlines were described in the presentation). Staff detailed how emergency-levy dollars have been used: large HVAC/air-conditioning projects (notably at Lincoln and Richardson), LED lighting upgrades, roof repairs, bus and van purchases, custodial and maintenance equipment, athletics uniforms and some technology purchases. For fiscal year 2024 the transcript records roughly $5.1 million drawn from the emergency-levy fund and substantial one-time ESSER-supported curriculum and staffing costs over previous years.
On personnel and support services, presenters noted ESSER-funded positions such as literacy specialists and social workers (about $775,000 in salary-and-benefit costs for those positions across the period) and earlier purchase-services contracts (YMCA after-school, file-scanning services) that were paid from federal sources. Staff also cited investments in classroom technology (GoGuardian, Chromebooks pilots), mobile hotspots for community checkout, and subscriptions such as TumbleBooks and tutor.com made possible by a $30,000 Ohio Department of Education grant split with local library partners.
Board members acknowledged the benefits these funds provided to families and students and noted the district tried to use one-time federal funds to maintain services without creating unsustainable ongoing commitments. Finance staff said the district has now presented its last regular ESSER review to the board.
