By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, schools are still finding ways to combat learning loss. Districts have federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) dollars to assist with that cause. Last month, the USD 431 Superintendent Patrick Crowdis proposed a pay stipend for teachers who completed intensive Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS) training. Monday night, the board approved Crowdis' proposal.
"What I'd like to propose is reallocating that money from ESSER III funds to setting aside funds to provide a $2,000 stipend for those teachers and administrators that we have go through LTERS training."
A certain percent of the funding must be used for learning loss, and the district has approximately $50,000 to allocate by September 2024, or risk the chance of losing it. Crowdis said that means teachers will likely be paid before the training is complete.
"It's free training," he said. "We're just paying them for the time they're putting into it. We're going to probably start it, then they have to show movement in the direction. All of that money also has to be spent by September 2024 so I need to see them making progress on it, then we'll allocate that money to them."
Approximately a dozen teachers in USD 431 are currently completing LETRS training, a 2-year program that requires 60 hours of work outside of the classroom. The goal of the program is to close the gap between the 35 percent of students who are proficient readers and the 95 percent of students that can learn to read.