Georgia Department of Education (GADOE) officials announced Tuesday that they are giving $4.9 million in competitive grants to support school improvement efforts in 14 school districts and state charter schools.
This, according to a press release that GADOE officials published on their website.
“The grants, which total $4,938,154, are designed to provide opportunities for schools identified for state support to ensure the necessary infrastructure and support for leaders, teachers, and families are available, while focusing on specific subgroup needs,” the press release said.
“Applications for these one-time additional funds were evaluated and scored competitively.”
Districts with at least one school identified for Comprehensive Support & Improvement (CSI) or Targeted Support & Improvement (TSI), or state charter schools identified for CSI or TSI, were eligible to apply for SUCCESS Grants, the press release said.
Awarded districts plan to use their grant funds to provide summer academic programming for students in grades two through five, implement mobile science labs, purchase classroom libraries, offer teacher professional learning on instructional practices, create wraparound centers, expand 1-1 technology access, and more. Under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), states are required to identify schools in need of additional support, the press release said.
The grants awarded include the following:
• Baconton Community Charter School: $250,000
• Cirrus Academy: $250,000
• Clay County Schools: $250,000
• DeKalb County Schools: $258,916
• Dooly County Schools: $250,055
• Fulton County Schools: $627,618
• Meriwether County Schools: $250,000
• Murray County Schools: $800,000
• Randolph County Schools: $235,700
• Richmond County Schools: $999,865
• Rome City Schools: $250,000
• SAIL Academy: $16,000
• Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools: $250,000
• Thomas County Schools: $250,000
GDOE officials announced last week announced they have developed an ESSER funding dashboard that they say reveals to the public how the state’s school districts use federal COVID-19 relief funds. The dashboard is available on GDOE’s COVID-19 resource site. The dashboard allows members of the public to see the amount of ESSER funds a school district has received, the number of submitted budgets approved, and time remaining in the grant period.
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
