$30 million in grants rolling out to combat pandemic-related learning loss

ALBEMARLE COUNTY, Va. (WVIR) - The office of Governor Glenn Youngkin is taking steps to address pandemic related learning loss, and it comes in the form of $30 million being directed towards learning recovery.

“It gives parents more choices and more options, and the more engaged the parents are with the education of their children, the better it is for schools,” Albemarle County Public Schools spokesperson Phil Giaramita said.

Virginia Secretary of Education Aimee Guidera says households of four with an income of $90,000 or less will receive $3,000 per child. Others who qualify will receive $1,500 per child.

“These grants allow every family in the Commonwealth to have the means to be able to purchase the tutoring, interventions, the one-on-one time with a professional,” Guidera said. “This an opportunity to make sure that every family in the Commonwealth has the ability to address the learning loss that we know happened across the Commonwealth.”

Giaramita says that SOL scores and teacher feedback from the past two years show that learning loss is present in the school district.

“We’re confident that with the additional resources and a little bit more measurement as to the impact that these changes are having, that we’ll begin to make some progress,” Giaramita said.

Alongside the grant rollout comes a new online tool that allows parents to easily see trend lines and where their child falls in them.

“This is really revolutionary to provide people actionable information, and then dollars to be able to support actions that will then change the lives of kids,” Guidera said.

The goal behind the grants is for them to be used by parents to find a personalized solution for each child’s learning loss.

“We’ve always said that parents are the first teachers. Anything that has parents more interested in their child’s education, more engaged, more supportive, is a plus for public education,” Giaramita said.

The governor’s office says it hopes to get these programs up and running by June in order to combat any more learning loss that could take place over the summer.

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