Future Forward Ohio encompasses the state’s strategic priorities for using federal funds to help students recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a focus on students who experienced the greatest disruptions to learning. Please visit the Student Recovery Dashboard to see the impact of the pandemic on Ohio students, as well as the progress towards academic recovery.
Future Forward Ohio is driven by a sense of urgency to help Ohio’s students accelerate learning and guided by Ohio House Bill 169, which identified key uses of American Rescue Plan (ARP) and Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) federal funds. Future Forward Ohio has three coordinating strategies to facilitate student success:
Overcoming Obstacles to Learning
Addressing barriers that prevent students from engaging in learning, such as attendance,
health, mental health and high-speed internet access.
Accelerating Learning
Providing more, and more effective, opportunities to learn through programs like after-school and summer programming, tutoring and supporting districts in using high-quality instructional materials.
Preparing Students for Future Success
Helping students rediscover their “why” for learning and more smoothly transition to their next stages through career and college connections.
The Future Forward Ohio "Spotlights" Series Showcases Promising Practices from Across Ohio.
Click to learn more!
Federal COVID-19 Relief Response
The federal government has sent funding to Ohio to support students through a variety of different funding sources, each with their own timeline, as depicted in the federal COVID-19 relief award allocation dashboard on this page. While the state is using federal COVID-19 relief funds to support the initiatives of Future Forward Ohio, most funds went directly to districts. The dashboard below shows how funds have been distributed and how they have been spent to date.
Federal COVID-19 Relief Award Allocation Breakout Dashboard
The dashboard shows how each round of federal COVID-19 relief funding has been allocated to Ohio's schools and districts. Specifically, this information highlights the first, second and third rounds of ESSER funding, ARP funding and various allocations of state funding.
ESSER Funds Availability Timeline
| Fund Source |
Period of Availability |
| Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) I |
3/13/2020 - 9/30/2022 |
| Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) I |
3/13/2020 - 9/30/2022 |
| Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) including the BroadbandOhio Connectivity Grant |
3/01/2020 – 12/31/2021
|
| ESSER II |
3/13/2020 – 9/30/2023
|
| GEER II |
3/13/2020 – 9/30/2023
|
| Emergency Assistance for Nonpublic Schools (EANS) |
3/13/2020 – 9/30/2023
|
| American Rescue Plan (ARP) ESSER III |
3/13/2020 – 9/30/2024
|
| ARP Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) |
7/1/2021 – 9/30/2023
|
| ARP Homeless Children and Youth |
3/13/2020 – 9/30/2024
|
| ARP EANS |
Contract Initiation – 9/30/2024
|
Organizations may be granted a carryover period for each of the ESSER grants. Carryover is the process by which unobligated funds remaining at the end of a grant period are carried forward to the next budget period to cover allowable costs.
Last Modified: 4/21/2023 12:15:17 PM