Governor's Emergency Education Relief funds to address COVID learning loss in Georgia

The new allotment of GEER funds will go to various community and public organizations that directly impact Georgia’s students, including:

The Georgia Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs: $12 million — Following the overwhelming success of the Boys & Girls Club learning recovery efforts, Kemp is allotting a further $12 million toward these efforts. This is on top of the $15 million allotted in GEERs I funding to the Boys & Girls Club last year, which went to helping thousands of students throughout the state return to grade-level achievement standards.

Through that prior investment, the Boys & Girls Clubs provided more than 21,000 students with intensive academic enrichment and tutoring to get back on track after the learning disruptions caused by the pandemic. Among those who participated in the programs, more than 86% improved test scores in math and English language arts; 94% of fifth- to 12th-graders were on grade level for the 2021-22 school year, and 100% of high school seniors applied to trade school, military or postsecondary education institutions.

Georgia Alliance of YMCAs: $2 million — Kemp is investing these funds in the YMCA’s Learning Loss Program through Y facilities across the state, which will facilitate learning recovery in an engaging and student-centric approach that incorporates technology and E-games.

These funds will go toward:

♦ A learning loss startup program for 6 YMCAs, serving approximately 500 children, to better meet community needs;

♦ Learning loss materials for 11 YMCAs to serve approximately 11,000 children. Supplied items will include backpacks, tablets, teaching supplies, workbooks and toolkits;

♦ The Y has developed an E-sports program with an emphasis on learning loss. E-sports allows kids to become part of a team, provides peer-to-peer learning, and develops strong critical thinking skills. The E-Sports learning loss program startup will operate in six YMCAs and serve approximately 300 children.

Georgia Department of Education: $9.1 million — Special Needs Teaching Resources (an estimated $6.5 million): Students with special needs were particularly impacted by the pandemic’s disruptions to schooling, and they often require more services and resources to obtain a quality education. These funds will help teachers and paraprofessionals of special needs learners buy more materials to support improved school performance.

Special Needs Equipment Grant for Georgia’s State Schools: $900,000 — This grant will address equipment needs for Georgia’s state schools that service the blind and deaf communities, including the Atlanta Area School for the Deaf, Georgia School for the Deaf, and Georgia Academy for the Blind. These funds will provide support for instructional technology and materials as educators prepare classrooms to better address pandemic-related learning loss in this special needs student population.

Hearing/Vision Loss for Infants and Elementary-aged Students: $1.7 million — Infants and elementary school students in Georgia receive regular hearing and vision tests in public schools, but during the pandemic, these tests were discontinued. As a result, some of Georgia’s students are struggling to keep up academically without the ability to hear or see their teachers and learning materials properly. There has been a 40% decrease in hearing and vision screenings for Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) beneficiaries ages 0-18 over the past two years alone. These funds are being allotted for:

♦ Train and equip schools within the Okefenokee and Pioneer Regional Education Service Agencies for mass hearing and vision screenings;

♦ Improve diagnosis of hearing loss among infants who missed hearing and vision screenings during the pandemic.

Department of Early Care and Learning: up to $12 million — As students and teachers continue to work hard to make up for any learning loss created by the pandemic’s disruptions, Kemp is awarding up to $12 million for the Department of Early Care and Learning’s (DECAL) Summer Transition Program that will be active in the summer of 2023.

DECAL offers two types of Summer Transition Programs that operate during the months of June and July. Each program offers high-quality instruction with a focus on language, literacy, and math and is designed to reduce the achievement gap. Of the two programs, one is designed specifically for students whose home language is Spanish. These funds will help ensure those just beginning their learning careers will not be impeded by the lingering academic disruptions caused by the pandemic.

Georgia Public Library Service: $2.3 million — These funds will be allotted in the form of library grants, administered by the Georgia Public Library Service, to replenish the connectivity and remote learning devices in public libraries throughout the state. These funds will further connect students to academic resources that might not otherwise be available as they endeavor to accelerate learning achievement.