On March 11, 2021, the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act was signed into law. The US Department of Education is providing an additional $121.9 billion for the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ARP ESSER Fund). This legislation will award these grants to state educational agencies (SEAs) for the purpose of providing local educational agencies (LEAs) with emergency relief funds to address the impact that COVID-19 has had, and continues to have, on elementary and secondary schools across the nation.
South Carolina will receive $2,112,051,487 in ARP ESSER funds from the Act, of which 90 percent will flow through to school districts with amounts determined in proportion to the amount of Title I, Part A funds they received in Summer 2020 from funds under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The remaining funds will be used for state-level activities to address issues caused by COVID-19. ARP ESSER funds also include some additional requirements on the part of the LEAs and the SEAs, please see below for more detailed information.
This website is designed to provide information, guidance, and resources to school district personnel with respect to ARP ESSER funds under the ARP Act. It will be updated as often as new information, guidance, and resources becomes available. Please note that ARP ESSER funds are entirely separate from ESSER I and ESSER II funds issued through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSA) respectively.
ARP ESSER State Plan
Approved ARP ESSER State Plan
South Carolina’s ARP ESSER Plan submitted to the U.S. Department of Education June 18, 2021 and approved on August 12, 2021.
South Carolina ARP Approval Letter
Letter from Secretary Cardona to Secretary Spearman granting the remaining one third of ARP ESSER funding.
Signed OMB Program Assurances
Linked are assurances Secretary Spearman signed as a condition of participating in American Rescue Plan Act funds
GEPA Statement Instructions
The file above provides instructions on how to complete a GEPA statement, which must be submitted with the spending plan, for approval.
Return to In-Person Instruction & Continuity of Services Plan
The link above is to a template for districts to use in preparing their return to in-person instruction and continuity of services plan; as required by the ARP Act, this plan must be posted publicly on the district’s website.
List all proposed changes including amounts being changed, function and object code of changes, and the category that is being changed
Category Narratives
Comprehensive description of all approved and proposed activities
Check the box to indicate if the category is being amended
Category 12 and 13
Include detailed language about the scope of the proposed project to ensure OSF has enough information to determine what level of alteration the proposed project would fall under
OSF will issue conditional approval for amendments that include changes to these two categories
Budget Summary
The remaining balance cell should equal 0 and the net total should equal the full allocation amount for the district
The budgeted amount and the allocation amount should equal each other
General Amendment Information
There should be no negative numbers, dollar signs, or commas included in the budget summary for any category
If significant changes are made please make sure the ARP plan PDF form is also updated and posted publicly on the district website
ESSER Quarterly Report Webinar
The ESSER Quarterly Report form was resigned in February 2022. Please use the link above for assistance navigating the new form.
ARP ESSER Reporting Due Dates
Reporting Period
Report Due Date
April 1 - June 30, 2021
July 5, 2021
July 1 - September 30, 2021
October 5, 2021
October 1 - December 31, 2021
January 5, 2022
January 1 - March 31, 2022
April 5, 2022
April 1 - June 30, 2022
July 5, 2022
Recorded Webinar of the ARP ESSER Technical Assistance
ARP ESSER Allowable Activities
The document above is the list of allowable activities under ARP ESSER. Please note the allowable activities are different from ESSER I and II.
