Arizona Department of Education Opens Application for American Rescue Plan State Funds

PHOENIX – Today, the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) announced the application for American Rescue Plan (ARP) ESSER State Funds. With the approval of the Arizona Department of Education’s American Rescue Plan’s state plan, ADE was awarded the final installment of ARP ESSER funding, including discretionary dollars that will be allocated to subrecipients to fund initiatives that support student success and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The application is open to a wide variety of partners, including community organizations and other entities that support students and families.   

 
These funds are intended to support programs aimed at accelerating and enriching learning and increasing learning opportunities – particularly for our most vulnerable student populations. The U.S. Department of Education has developed three lanes that the types of programs applicants put forth should address. These include: 

1. 1. Learning Loss – or disrupted learning 
   2. Summer enrichment 
   3. Comprehensive after school programs 

 
Within each of these lanes, the Arizona Department of Education has identified three priority focus areas applicants should aim to address: 

1. 1. Enrichment & reinforcements for learning 
   2. Mental, behavioral, and physical health support for students and educators 
   3. Student and family re-engagement and support for critical transition periods

“I am thrilled to begin the process of allocating American Rescue Plan dollars to organizations that are committed to accelerating learning and supporting Arizona’s students and families” said Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman. “These federal dollars will provide critically needed additional resources to schools across our state as we together continue to fight the devastating impact of COVID-19." 

The application is now open on the Arizona Procurement Portal website. Interested applicants should visit https://appstate.az.gov and register as a supplier to begin the application process. Guidance, videos, and other information can be found on the State Procurement Office website. 

ADE will host a pre-application webinar on November 3^rd at 3:00 pm for those individuals and organizations that are interested in applying for ARP State Funds. Interested applicants are encouraged to register for and attend the webinar to ensure a smooth application process.  

Applications submitted by the December 10th deadline can expect to learn of a decision by the end of January 2022. 

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