ESSER Capital Expenditures and Reimbursement Updates

Oregon Department of Education sent this bulletin at 10/25/2021 11:32 AM PDT

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ESSER Capital Expenditures and Reimbursement Updates 

Greetings Business Managers,

I’d like to share with you some updates to the ESSER Capital Expenditure Approval and Reimbursement Request Forms.

 

Capital Expenditures Approval Form

Due to the increased scrutiny of approved projects and updated guidance from our federal partners, we are updating our capital expenditure approval form and process. We are now asking that all capital expenditures over $25,000 be presented to your school board for their approval. The Approval Form has been updated to include this requirement.

Important Notes:

  • Please begin using this updated approval form for all future requests. The prior version of the form will no longer be accepted.
  • The updated form can be found on ESSER II and ESSER III webpages under the “Capital Expenditure Approval” heading.
  • Capital expenditure approvals may be submitted prior to obtaining school board approval. However, school board approval must be obtained prior to expending the funds.
  • During the review of these requests, you may be asked to provide meeting minutes that document the school board engagement.
  • This requirement will NOT be retroactive. Previously approved Capital Expenditures are not required to have school board approval.

 

Reimbursement Request Form

To assist with tracking the 20% of ESSER III funds that must be spent on unfinished learning, we have added an “Unfinished Learning” column to the Request Form (pictured below).

ESSER Unfinished Learning

For all ESSER III reimbursement requests, please enter an “x” in this column for each line item that corresponds to an expense that your district is using to meet the 20% requirement.

Important Notes:

  • Please begin using this updated reimbursement form for all three ESSER grants. There are additional minor updates to this version that make the forms easier to use and process.
    • For ESSER I and II requests, please leave the “Unfinished Learning” column blank.
  • The updated Reimbursement Request Form can be found on all three of the ESSER webpages under the “Reimbursement” heading.
  • It is not required to resubmit previous ESSER III reimbursement forms on the new template, though you are welcome to do so if you have previously submitted expenses you’d like counted towards the 20% requirement.
    • If you choose to resubmit previous requests on the new template, please clearly indicate the form is a resubmission and should not be processed as a new request.

 

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to ODE.ESSER@state.or.us. We are happy to help!

Thank you,

Savanah Solario

School Facilities Coordinator | ESSER Grants Coordinator