Prince
William
County
Public
Schools
(PWCS)
has
released
an
updated
comprehensive
Unfinished
Learning
Plan.
The
plan
focused
on
acceleration,
recovery,
and
re-engagement
to
provide
comprehensive
academic,
social-emotional,
and
mental
health
support
in
schools.
This
plan
highlights
the
efforts
made
by
the
Division
to
measure
the
impacts
of
COVID-19,
school
closures,
and
sustain
virtual
instruction
to
PWCS
students.
This
plan
meets
the
needs
of
individual
students
by
following
a
formula
that
equitably
distributes
federal
resources
that
support
acceleration,
recovery,
and
re-engagement
for
student
learning.
The
American
Rescue
Plan
Act
of
2021
(ARPA)
provides
additional
funding
to
school
systems
to
support
unfinished
learning
efforts.
PWCS
is
eligible
for
approximately
$88
million
in
ARPA
funding
with
an
additional
$4.8
million
in
Title
6B
ARPA
funding.
The
Division
was
required
to
submit
an
application
to
the
Virginia
Department
of
Education
by
September
1,
2021,
to
be
eligible
for
these
funds.
This
legislation
also
requires
the
Local
Education
Agency
(LEA)
to
use
20%
of
their
formula
funds
from
ARPA
to
address
learning
loss/unfinished
learning.
PWCS
has
developed
a
comprehensive
plan
that
will
utilize
approximately
78%
of
the
PWCS
formula
funds
to
address
learning
loss/unfinished
learning,
or
nearly
$72
million
of
the
total
amount
available
to
PWCS.
Given
the
research
that
highlights
the
disparities
of
COVID-19
and
its
impact
on
our
most
vulnerable
learners
and
student
populations,
PWCS
designed
a
resource
allocation
process
to
provide
additional
resources,
supports,
and
services
to
meet
and/or
exceed
the
specific
academic
and
social-emotional
needs
of
all
students
including
our
advanced
learners.
The
process
includes
a
focus
on
student
groups
that
were
disparately
impacted
by
the
pandemic
such
as
students
with
disabilities,
English
Learners
(EL),
and
students
who
are
economically
disadvantaged.
Beyond
these
investments
toward
addressing
unfinished
learning,
we
have
utilized
ARPA
funding
to
support
the
hiring
of
summer
school
teachers,
thus
giving
our
students
summer
school
opportunities.
This
includes
Extended
School
Year
(ESY)
services
for
students
with
disabilities
and
focused
instruction
for
our
English
Learner
students.
The
Division
will
also
utilize
approximately
$11.3
million
of
the
ARPA
funding
for
the
virtual
programming
for
our
virtual-only
students
at
all
levels.