ESSER funding & sustaining your 1:1 program.
Manage1to1 was — and still is, for districts on extensions — eligible under the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER I, II, and III). With the bulk of ESSER funds now obligated, the bigger question for most districts is sustainability: how do you keep your 1:1 program funded after federal pandemic dollars are gone?
This page covers both: the ESSER eligibility categories Manage1to1 fit within, and the practical strategies districts are using now to sustain their 1:1 program with regular operating budgets.
Eligibility categories
Where Manage1to1 fit within ESSER.
ESSER's three rounds (CARES Act, CRRSA Act, ARP Act) funded a wide range of K-12 expenditures. Manage1to1 fell within multiple eligible categories that districts used to purchase or renew the platform:
Addressing learning loss
Districts used ESSER funds to make sure every student had an equitable learning environment. Manage1to1 ensures the technology supporting that environment — Chromebooks, iPads, laptops — actually reaches students and stays in working order.
Educational technology purchases
ESSER explicitly authorized purchases of educational technology, including hardware, software, and connectivity. Device-management platforms that make ed-tech investments useful and trackable fell within the same category.
Continuity of services
Districts needed to ensure operations continued during disruption. A help-desk + asset-management platform is core operational infrastructure for any 1:1 program — and was eligible under continuity-of-services categories.
Cybersecurity
ESSER funds were eligible for cybersecurity investments tied to school operations. Manage1to1's role-based access controls, MFA, audit logs, and incident tracking all support a district's broader cybersecurity posture.
Post-ESSER sustainability
Keeping your 1:1 program running after the federal money is gone.
ESSER III obligation deadlines have largely passed. Districts that scaled their 1:1 program with pandemic relief funds are now budgeting the recurring costs from operating funds — and Manage1to1 is built to keep those costs predictable.
Predictable per-student pricing
Manage1to1 is priced per enrolled student, not per device. Your cost doesn't spike if you add spare devices or take-home programs expand. It scales linearly and predictably — which makes budgeting easy when general fund dollars are tight.
Online payment recovery
Districts using the parent portal and ConnexPoint or PayPal integrations regularly recover damage charges, insurance fees, and device replacement costs from families — directly offsetting the program's operating cost. Many districts report recouping more than their Manage1to1 subscription cost through online payment collection alone.
Demonstrable ROI for the board
Manage1to1's reporting + dashboards give technology directors the numbers they need to demonstrate ROI to their board: average ticket resolution time, technician productivity, asset utilization, damage recovery. When you're defending the line item, you have receipts.
See our published ROI claims on the pricing page — most districts achieve full ROI within 1 month.
Read the post-ESSER series
We published a five-part blog series on sustaining 1:1 device deployments post-ESSER, covering strategies for cost management, communication and funding, and maintaining IT operations amidst funding challenges.
Browse the Learn library for the full series.
A note on funding eligibility
Eligibility for any federal grant program — ESSER, E-Rate, IDEA, Title I, or otherwise — depends on your district's specific plan, your state education agency's guidance, and federal regulations in effect at the time of obligation. Use the categories on this page as a starting point for conversations with your business office or grants coordinator. Manage1to1 is not a tax, legal, or grants compliance advisor.
Need help building the funding case?
We've helped districts position their Manage1to1 purchase for board approval, grant applications, and budget defense. Tell us where you are in the process — we'll share what worked for similar districts.