Considering How to Fund Professional Development For School Counselors?
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About Nest Egg
Districts across the country are using ESSER II and III and Title I funds for professional development for certificated staff, including school counselors. Our new Nest Egg program can help you simplify how you spend professional development dollars to meet your ESSER III funding deadlines and Title I spending requirements to provide ongoing professional development for long-term improvement of your comprehensive school counseling program.
Nest Egg’s one-price strategy allows districts to fund multiple years of Hatching Results services and products. With Nest Egg, your investment of one-time funds supports long-term school improvement goals and provides comprehensive professional learning opportunities to meet your current and future school counseling program needs.
ESSER II funding must be spent by September 30, 2023, and ESSER III funding must be spent by September 30, 2024, but the services may be carried out well beyond that date. For example, if a district pays in advance for a three-year comprehensive professional learning contract, the one-time payment locks in services and products at the 2023 rates for years 2024 & 2025.
Nest Egg can also be used to subsidize future professional learning contracts. If a district has been using ESSER funds for professional development, there may be concern over what funds will be used once ESSER funds are gone. By using Nest Egg, your one-time payment can be spread out over multiple years to supplement your ongoing professional development funding plan.
For example, say a district intends to contract with Hatching Results for comprehensive Professional Learning for the next three years, and due to the size of the district and the services requested, the total contract is $150,000, or $50,000 per year. But, the district only has $100,000 of ESSER funds remaining. The district could pay upfront for the first two years and hope they can find another $50,000 in their budget for 2025, or they could spread the ESSER funding out over three years, at $33,333 per year, requiring the district to find only an additional $16,667 each of the three years.
As you discuss the scenario presented above with your business office, I think you’ll find that it would be easier to find $16,667 in the district budget each year than it would to fund a single year at $50,000. Nest Egg provides many various options to create the transformational change you want in your comprehensive school counseling program.
Read below for more information on different federal and state-specific funding options for comprehensive professional learning to help you design, implement, develop, and improve school counseling in your district or region:
Federal Funding
ESSER II ends on September 30, 2023.
Allowable uses of the ESSER funds include:
Providing mental health services and supports, including through the implementation of evidence-based full-service community schools.
Providing principals and other school leaders with the resources necessary to address the unique needs of their individual schools.
Activities to address the unique needs of low-income children or students, children with disabilities, English learners, racial and ethnic minorities, students experiencing homelessness, and foster care youth, including how outreach and service delivery will meet the needs of each population.
Local Education Agenda (LEA) staff training and professional development.
Other activities that are necessary to maintain operations and continuity of services and continue to employ existing staff.
ESSER III funds are available for obligation by LEAs through September 30, 2024. Although funds must be obligated by September 30, 2024, grant activities carried out through a valid obligation of funds may continue beyond that date. Under 2 CFR 200.344(a), ESSER funds must be liquidated within 120 calendar days after the end of the performance period. For more information, see ESSER Q&A (questions #10, 11, 12 & 13 are especially informative).
Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)
Title I - The purpose of Title I, Part A federal funds is to help to meet the educational needs of students. Funds are used to support effective, evidence-based educational strategies that close the achievement gap and enable the students to meet the state's challenging academic standards. Title I specifically includes school counselors as an allowable expense.[Reference: California Department of Education (see #2), and US Department of Education (see top of page 5)].
Title II - The purpose of Title II, Part A SEI sub grants to LEAs is to increase student achievement consistent with challenging academic standards; improve the quality and effectiveness of teachers, school counselors, principals, and other school leaders; increase the number of teachers, school counselors, principals, and other school leaders who are effective in improving student academic achievement in schools; and provide low-income and minority students greater access to effective teachers, school counselors, principals, and other school leaders. (20 United States Code [USC] Section 6601)
Title IV - The purpose of Title IV, Part A funds is to improve students’ academic achievement by increasing the capacity of schools to provide all students with access to a well-rounded education and improve school conditions for student learning.
CA State Funding
Community School Grants is a new grant and another great source of funding for school districts receiving these funds. [Reference: California Department of Education program info and news release.] Districts must apply for a Community School Grant, and some districts received a planning grants phase ($200,000), and others have received generous implementation grant funding for up to 5 years, for up to $500,000 annually per school site, determined by school enrollment levels. The California legislature appropriated almost $3 billion for the CCSPP to support and expand community schools until June 30, 2028.
Some districts may have one-time funds remaining in these grants:
CTE Grants - Started in 2016, the purpose of the program is to provide pupils in kindergarten through grade twelve with the knowledge and skills necessary to transition to employment and postsecondary education. CTE Grant Funds can be used for pupil support services for career, academic, and social-emotional needs. Districts must apply for the grant.
A-G Completion Grants - The purpose of the program is to support and increase the number of California high school pupils who graduate from high school with A–G eligibility requirements completed for admission to California State University and University of California. A-G Grants shall be used for activities that directly support pupil access to, and successful completion of, the A–G course requirements. Eligible activities include providing teachers, administrators, and counselors with professional development opportunities to improve the LEA’s A–G completion rate. On or before August 31, 2026, LEAs must report to CDE final outcomes that measure the impact of the funds received on their A–G completion rate.
Educator Effectiveness Block Grant - Provided 1.5 billion to districts in 2021, and they have until June 2026 to fully spend these funds.
