Horry County Schools requests input on how to spend $125M in federal funds

HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WMBF) – Horry County Schools wants to hear from parents, students, teachers and staff on how it should spend federal money.

The school district received over $125 million from the American Rescue Plan’s Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER III). It will be spent over the next three years in response to COVID-19 related concerns.

Horry County Schools explained that at least 20% of the funds must be used to address learning loss, while the other 80% can be spent on other activity areas that are allowed by the federal government.

The survey on the Horry County Schools’ website identifies 15 allowable categories where ESSER III funds can be used. District stakeholders can pick their top three categories.

The district identified these five priorities for addressing student academic learning loss from a survey earlier in the summer:

Offering tutoring as a support for student learning
Providing after-school programs to support student learning
Engaging families through attendance support, social-emotional learning, mental health and wellness resources, and college readiness
Providing summer learning opportunities for student learning
Enhancing/promoting parent-teacher conferences and communication