The Kansas Education Enrichment Program, in partnership with Merit International, has distributed $1,000 awards to children across Kansas to use on learning loss recovery and other post-COVID effects. Yet many Kansas families are unaware of the program.
Here’s what you need to know about the learning loss and school supply program.
- Using $50 million in federal COVID- 19 relief funding, the state’s Strengthening People and Revitalizing Kansas Executive Committee in late 2021 approved a program meant to help low-income families with books, technology, tutoring and other educational expenses.
- The full $1,000 grants are awarded to any eligible children ages 5 to 18 enrolled in a K-12 program and from households with eligible income levels. To be eligible for the program, children have to be from Kansas families with household incomes at or less than 300% of the federal poverty level.
For 2023, those income limits are the following:
- Households of 2, $59,160
- Households of 3, $74,580
- Households of 4, $90,000
- Households of 5, $105,420
- Households of 6, $120,840
- Households of 7 and up, add $15,420 for each additional member
Children in foster care are also eligible for the grants, regardless of their household income. Students with disabilities up to the age of 21 can also receive grants, as well as students 18 or older who are still enrolled in high school.
Once approved, families can use the $1,000 KEEP grants on a variety of learning loss goods, supplies and services available from approved service providers on Merit’s online platform. Merit, in administering the program, holds onto the actual grant dollars and either pays directly for families’ purchases or later reimburses those costs. Families can check their balances through a digital wallet.
Grant awards can be used on the following:
- Academic or instructional camps (not including sports, driving and competition camps)
- Language classes, from an online or in-person licensed organization.
- Musical instruments, including rental fees and lessons.
- Tutoring, by a pre-approved, registered tutoring business.
- School supplies, including curriculum materials and textbooks.
- A single large tech item, such as a tablet, laptop or desktop computer, worth more than $200.
To begin an application, parents or guardians should visit keep.ks.gov to submit an online application. The website and application materials are also available in Spanish.
Parents will need to provide some type of document to prove Kansas residency, which can include a driver’s license, vehicle registration, utility bill, bank statement, rent or lease agreement, or a voter registration card.
Grants from the KEEP program are on a first-come, first-serve basis. Grants are also one-time only, meaning families cannot apply for additional awards after already receiving one per eligible child. By federal statute, the COVID-19 recovery and relief funds must be spent by the end of 2026.