Today, Governor Brian P. Kemp and First Lady Marty Kemp visited Ola High School in Henry County to share well wishes as teachers and faculty prepare to welcome kids back to school next week. During his address, Governor Kemp announced a new award, the "Back-to-School Supply Supplement," through the Governors Emergency Education Relief Program to support a safe, complete return to in-person learning and educators who are still grappling with pandemic-driven learning loss in the classroom.

"This has been a working summer for everyone on my team and our partners devoted to Georgia students, their safety, and their academic and professional success," said Governor Brian Kemp. "As millions of students and educators prepare to head back to the classroom next week, Marty and I want to assure Georgia families that the Kemp Administration has furthered efforts to foster safe learning environments. Through wise investments and policies that empower families while supporting teachers, students and faculty will return to the classroom stronger and safer than ever for the first full school year not impacted by distanced or remote learning. We hope this $125 'Back-to-School Supply Supplement' will aid in these efforts and help us close the learning loss gap caused by the pandemic. When it comes to protecting our children and their bright futures, we will not quit or slow down. That work will continue well into the new school year and those that follow."

The "Back-to-School Supply Supplement" will be provided to all full-time, public-school teachers and staff members who work to provide instructional and supportive services directly to students on a daily basis. It will amount to $125.00 for each eligible faculty member to buy materials, supplies, or other items that can be used for age-appropriate, educational purposes that support the learning, growth, or development of students. Such allowable educational purposes are to enhance classroom materials, address learning loss, mitigate the spread of COVID-19, or benefit the education of students. All eligible Georgia educators will receive communications from ClassWallet in the coming days.

About Governor's Emergency Education Relief Fund
The Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2021 (CRRSA), was signed into law on December 27, 2020. This Act provides funding to supplement the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund awarded to each state under the previous CARES Act. Additionally, this Act provided for the transfer of remaining Emergency Assistance to Nonpublic Schools (EANS) funding to the Governor’s Office for designation of allowable use under GEER requirements. GEER funding is awarded for the purpose of providing local educational agencies, institutions of higher education, and other education-related entities with emergency assistance in response to COVID-19. The total of additional funding available to award is $59.7 million. More awards will be announced in the coming months.

More about the Governor's Emergency Education Relief Fund can be found here.