The total amount of funds, to be given as Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds, is $1.02 million, according to the district.
This grant will fund additional learning intervention mandated by House Bill 4545. New district data shows close to 17% of students in Round Rock ISD are receiving 30 hours of this required accelerated instruction per school year.
The Texas House bill, which went into effect June 18, mandates tutoring or supplemental instruction for students who did not pass State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness as well as removing retention and retesting requirements for fifth and eighth grades. School districts are also required to create accelerated learning committees to establish individual educational plans for students that do not pass STAAR in third, fifth or eighth grades, under the law. This accelerated learning would be continued and strengthened through the use of these TCLA ESSER grant funds.
Out of the 28,280 students eligible for STAAR testing in RRISD, 8,182 are receiving accelerated instruction. The largest proportion of students receiving instruction are in the district's middle schools. Chief of Teaching and Learning Ryan Smith said students who did not take STAAR exams in 2021 took an exam developed by the district to determine eligibility for HB 4545.
"I think we'll be in a much better place to predict what we're going to need as far as resources next year," Smith said. "It's a changing number. Students are passing the EOC exam, and then they're no longer required to receive this intervention. We're also continuing to assess students who are entering campuses."
In a presentation given to the school board Feb. 17, Smith told the board that accelerated instruction can take multiple forms, including intervention groups, individualized instruction and after-school tutoring.
In the 2022-23 and 2023-24 school years, the TCLA ESSER grant will be used to provide a high-quality, three-hour after-school tutoring program Mondays through Thursdays for 90 days per school year. The program is expected to serve up to 300 students in the district identified in third, fourth and fifth grades based on academic need, according to the district.
Smith said transportation is expected to be provided by the district, although it will be funded by local funding, not this grant.
The district will also ramp up summer learning and beyond, expanding and redesigning programming to focus on accelerated learning for qualified students, adjusting campus scheduling to include dedicated accelerated instruction times and the extended after-school tutoring funded by the TCLA ESSER grant.
