GEER Fund
The purpose of the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) Fund is to provide additional support to K-12 and Higher Education institutions that have been most significantly impacted by COVID-19. Funds received through GEER would generally supplement funds received by impacted institutions through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) and Higher Education Emergency Relief (HEER) Funds.
Important Notes:
- GEER Funds cannot be used by states to replace state aid
- Education entities have broad discretion to determine the use of the emergency aid
A portion of GEER Funds must be used to provide emergency grants for K-12 LEAs that have been the most impacted by COVID-19. ADE is tasked with determining indicators to identify which LEAs have been most significantly impacted by COVID-19
The following are indicators that are being considered to help determine LEAs that have been "most significantly impacted" by COVID-19:
Tribal Communities
- Source: Tribal data
- Challenges: Tribal data may be incomplete due to challenges in availability of data from tribal communities
LEA Ability to Support Online Learning
- Source: Arizona Commerce Authority Broadband Office, LEA Survey Data
- Local broadband infrastructure, broadband service availability, student access to internet services
COVID-19 Data
- Source: State and County public health data
- High COVID-19 cases per capita
Additional indicators that may be considered are family food insecurity (High percentage of families receiving NSLP/SNAP nutrition benefits), unemployment (High percentage of families unemployed due to COVID-19) and LEA demographics data (High percentages of low-income students, children with disabilities, English learners, racial and ethnic minorities, students experiencing homelessness, and foster care youth).
