Dixon Public Schools reveals preliminary plan to spend $4.5 million in American Rescue Plan funds

DIXON – Dixon Public Schools board of education on Wednesday reviewed a spending plan for nearly $4.5 million in federal funds from the American Rescue Plan.

The plan was provided for informational purposes. The vote on it won’t be until March.

The largest portion of the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief fund – more than $1.3 million – would be allocated to programs and resources to address learning loss and evidence-based interventions stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the words of Superintendent Margo Empen: “How we are working to catch kids up.”

Some of the materials are already in use in the district, including the Star 360 assessment tools and the Freckle intervention materials. For grades K-8 there are social-emotional intervention learning materials. Some of the money can be used to supplement the salaries for instructional coaches, intervention staff members and paraprofessionals.

“Really trying to narrow down where we want to spend our ESSER funds,” Empen said. “How can we make the most impact on our kids who’ve been going through the pandemic? And also, thinking long-term for the district. How can we sustain it?”

The district has three more school-years beyond the current one to spend the grant money. The final spending deadline is Sept. 30, 2024. In fact, the largest outlay is being reserved for the 2023-24 school year, when $1.465 million would go out.

The district will post the spending plan at www.dps170.org and will be available for review at the district office at 1335 Franklin Grove Road until March 16.

Members of the public can make comments by emailing the superintendent at mempen@dps170.org or provide comments during the citizens agenda portion of the March 16 board of education meeting. Emailed comments should be sent to board president Linda Wegner at lwegner@dps170.org by noon of March 16.

Here are elements of the plan:

Technology: The district will spend $200,000 to purchase 400 devices, such as laptop computers or tablets for remote and long-distance learning, in each of the next four school years.

Summer school: $916,880 will be spent over three summers, paying for 36 teachers to work four weeks each in grades K-12. Part of the money will go to cover summer school transportation, covering 10 routes each day.

Supporting services: $132,000 will cover a three-year license for SeeSaw suite of digital tools, furniture from TechZone and a Tier 1 subscription for Canvas/Studio Cloud.

Curriculum: $1.235 million for new instructional materials in the areas of English Language Arts in grades K-8, math for grades 6-8 and science in grades 2-8.

After-school programs. $59,453 for K-8 students.