The annual school planning window opened on May 1 and will close on September 3. School plans must be submitted to the district by September 3, 2024. Districts have until October 2, 2024, to review, provide feedback, and approve plans. As in previous years, schools inherited components of the district’s plan. These components should be tailored and revised based on guidance from the district and the school-level context. In alignment with previous years processes, data in InformTN will not be populated with data released over the summer due to InformTN using accountability files for the academic achievement tab. However, schools are encouraged to use the most recently released data to support their planning process. 

A Guide to District Support for School Planning is available to support district leaders in their facilitation of the annual school planning and review process.  

Pursuant to Chapter 1005 of the Public Acts of 2024, the department will submit an Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) amendment to the U.S. Department of Education requesting approval of a triennial planning approval timeline for district and school plans. Approval must be received prior to the implementation of this change.   

The Tennessee Department of Education (department) has recalculated additional amounts of unobligated ESSER 3.0 (ARP ESSER) funds to Local Education Agencies (LEAs) in proportion to the funds received under Title I, Part A of ESEA of 1965 in State Fiscal Year 2021 (FY21). These recalculated amounts have been loaded into ePlan. These are the final additional amounts after LEAs elected to accept or decline the funds. 

The department has also updated the ESSER 3.0 allocation totals on the Spending Plan page of the ESSER 3.0 funding application, where the minimum 20 percent amount to address learning loss is calculated and tracked. As a reminder, this amount is required according to ARP ESSER over the total allocation of the grant. When budgeting for the additional ESSER 3.0 funds, please ensure this requirement has been met. 

To ensure all funds have been obligated by Sept. 30 and all funding applications are approved, the department requests that all ESSER 3.0 final revisions be completed no later than Sept. 16, 2024. Funding applications may not be revised after the Sept. 30 obligation deadline.

Contacts:
Jerri.Nave@tn.gov
Julia.Hudson@tn.gov