Ellington, Somers Included In American Rescue Plan School Funding

ELLINGTON/SOMERS, CT — Ellington is slated to receive more than $400,000 and Somers in excess of $360,000 in American Rescue Plan funding that will provide continued support to eastern Connecticut schools through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER) program.

U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, a senior member of the House Education and Labor Committee, announced the official allocation of more than $121 million to schools in the 2nd Congressional District on Monday. He worked with his colleagues to draft and authorize the provisions in the American Rescue Plan Act (H.R. 1319) that provided this new round of relief funding for local schools.
Courtney voted to pass the American Rescue Plan on March 10, sending it to President Biden's desk for signature.

Ellington's allocation is $400,478, of which $80,096, or 20 percent, is set aside for learning recovery. Somers will receive $363,040, with $72,608 set aside.

"The American Rescue Plan is continuing to fuel eastern Connecticut's economic recovery, and it's going to help our schools stay open and get kids back on track as we move ahead," Courtney said in a written statement. "Keeping our schools open and our teachers and kids safe is in the first row of priorities when it comes to getting life back to normal, and the American Rescue Plan is re-supplying our local public schools with more than $121 million in relief aid. These Rescue Plan dollars are going straight to our local schools, helping them offset last year's totally unforeseen budget cuts so that they can afford the tools they need to keep kids, teachers and staff safe, and to start implementing programs to make up for lost learning. Last week's jobs numbers were a wake-up call to a lot of armchair economic experts that even though our recovery is on the move, we've still got big challenges to overcome. That's why we passed the American Rescue Plan, and it's why we'll continue to see the bill giving our schools, families, and small businesses a boost in eastern Connecticut."

For a full list of local ESSER funding allocations to District 2 schools through the American Rescue Plan, click here.

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