Gila Bend Unified District

About Relief funds

Three packages of federal stimulus funds were awarded to K-12 schools through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Funds. ESSER I, ESSER II, and ESSER III were issued between March 2020 and March 2021, although districts may not have received these dollars until 2022. While the legislation awarded the full amount of these dollars at once, districts, schools, and the Arizona Department of Education may spend these funds through September 30, 2024. The legislation specified that states were required to allocate these funds to schools and districts in proportion to the Title I formula. These dollars were restricted, meaning they could only be used for activities specified by the ESSER legislation. The American Rescue Plan also included specific funding for students with disability, found here as the ARP-IDEA Basic grant dollars. Arizona also made funds available for districts experiencing rapid enrollment changes due to the pandemic. These dollars are found in the Enrollment Stability Grant. This page highlights the allocation and use of those funds in Arizona schools and districts.