News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Putnam County Schools has hired an ESSER coordinator to help coordinate all the funds to be used for school projects.
Jason Stickler currently serves as the district Response to Intervention Coordinator. The RTI Coordinator helps administer and implement school-wide initiatives based on the needs of students.
Stickler said the state recommended schools form positions of this nature to help with ESSER fund implementation.
With more than $20.6 million in allocated funds, Stickler said they want to ensure the money be properly used.
“To make sure that the funds have a positive impact on our students in Putnam County,” Stickler said. “That the funds that we spend address learning loss, getting students to where they need to be on grade level academically.”
Stickler said that they currently working with ESSER 3.0 funds on their public facing plans. He said they plan on reaching out to community stakeholders as well as members within the Putnam County school district to gather input.
“That’s our main work right now,” Stickler said. “Kind of looking at needs assessment, achievement data, of course we’ll be getting more data coming in within the next couple of months. We’ll be looking at that to be compiled into our applications to justify the use of the funds.”
That application is due August 27th. ESSER funding has many stipulations and requirements for its ability to be spent, which is why Stickler’s new role as ESSER coordinator is beneficial to the school system.
“There are several requirements that need to be met as we move forward in the process,” Stickler said. “Just the amount of money and the impact it can have on students and the educational community as a whole. That may be a reason why those stipulations are required.”
Stickler said that he will officially start his position as ESSER coordinator July 1st as he transitions from his position as RTI coordinator. He said due to the nature of his duties as ESSER coordinator and what goes into the work, he will still be working with RTI throughout the next three years.
