Enhancing Student Health and Wellness in ACPS, ESSA-Style
Under the recently reauthorized Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), there is much greater flexibility offered to school districts as to how they spend their Title IV, Part A dollars. For the first time schools and districts are able to allocate funding to enhance the “health and well-being” of the students they serve. This directly aligns with ESSA’s claim to be more supportive of the “whole child,” instead of simply pushing increased test scores. Some school districts have been able to claim these funds in the name of health/physical education initiatives, and I’m very proud to say that Alexandria City Public Schools in Virginia is one of them.