Like other districts across the nation, the Taconic Hills Central School District is scheduled to receive one-time federal funding through the American Rescue Plan (ARP) and Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Act (CRRSAA) as follows:

ARP         $3,143,819 to be spent between March 13, 2020 to September 30, 2024
CRRSA    $1,399,830 to be spent between March 13, 2020 to September 30, 2023

That's a total of $4,543,649 that must be budgeted over the next two to three years.

The federal investments require a community engagement process. The district is committed to providing everyone in our community an opportunity to give input on how to best use these one-time funds to support students during the pandemic, and to address impacts that the pandemic has had on students, faculty and staff.

Shortly, the District will post its plan for how the funds will be expended and how we will prioritize spending on non-recurring expenses in the following areas:

-safely return students back in person;
-maximizing in-person instruction time;
-operating schools and meeting the needs of students;
-purchasing educational technology;
-addressing the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on students, including the impacts of interrupted instruction
 and learning loss and the impacts on low income students, children with disabilities, English language learners,
 and students experiencing homelessness;
-implementing evidence-based strategies to meet students' social, emotional, mental health, & academic needs;
-offering evidence-based summer, afterschool, and other extended learning and enrichment programs
-supporting early childhood education
-activities supporting career and technical education
-purchasing supplies to sanitize and clean the facilities
-training and professional development for staff on sanitation and minimizing spread of infectious diseases

For more information about the federal funding, please review the USDE fact sheet at:  https://bit.ly/3yDcAuM

District administrators have begun to develop a plan in the best interest of our student population but there is more thoughtful planning to be done. We value your input as we work to maximize the funding provided in the best interests of our students' safety, social-emotional health, and academic success.

The district has created this survey for students, parents/guardians, faculty/staff, and community members to provide input that will help prioritize the categories in which the district will use its allocated federal funds. The survey asks you to prioritize potential uses of these funds in a variety of categories.

Please complete the survey by Tuesday, July 27, 2021.

Thank you for your time and thoughts.

Sincerely,

Dr. Neil L. Howard, Jr.
Superintendent of Schools
Taconic Hills Central School District