The DPI has agreed to simplify the EANS application process and work with CESA 6 as the program administrator, the DPI announced in a meeting with WCRIS today (3/4/21).
The EANS initial application will be released to private schools on March 12, 2021, and will be due back to DPI by April 12, 2021. The details of the initial application are still being worked out but it will NOT involve the WiseGrants system as previously thought, the DPI said.
Instead, the DPI envisions a simple online survey with questions that will meet federal requirements for verifying that a private school is eligible to participate in EANS funds, said DPI School Administration Consultant Laura Pinsonneault. The meeting was also attended by Assistant State Superintendent Robert Soldner.
Meanwhile, the CESAs are developing a catalog of goods and services allowed by the federal EANS law from which schools may select. Schools may also select to work with a different third party to secure allowable services and supplies, said Ted Neitzke, Administrator of CESA 6, which is taking the lead on the project.
CESA 6 will also handle all of the administration for EANS funds, including requests for reimbursements for allowable pandemic-response related expenses from March 2020 to now. Here is general information about the EANS program.
Neitzke said CESA 6 anticipates hosting statewide webinars for private schools starting on Monday, March 15th to inform schools about the EANS program, the initial application process and how they can use their CESA. Please watch WCRIS Current Events for dates and times.
You can see your school’s current EANS allocation here. And, you can scroll down on the WCRIS EANS web page for a list of legally allowable uses. The allocation will likely change. Once the number of participating private schools is known, the DPI will reallocate the total $77.4 million Wisconsin EANS allocation among those schools. The current per-school allocation will not decrease. Schools of any additional funds they may have access to.
In the meantime, Neitzke and his team will be joining the WCRIS EANS Leadership Meeting on Wednesday, March 10 to provide an overview of the EANS process. The webinar is for members only and begins at 9 a.m. with a briefing on the proposed 2021-23 state budget. The EANS report follows. The webinar ends at 11 a.m.
Registrations for the March 10 Leadership Meeting Closes at 4 p.m. Friday, March 5.
A link for the Zoom meeting will be mailed out by Tuesday (3/8) morning.
