Grants and Other Financial Assistance Programs: FY2009

The primary objective of these grants is to stabilize local budgets and to minimize and avoid reductions in education services that otherwise would have resulted from the state's worsening revenue situation.

Districts are also encouraged to use their SFSF grants to support ongoing efforts to improve results for students, promote long-term gains in school system capacity, and increase efficiency and effectiveness.

FY2009 SFSF grants will be paid from two different fund codes, 782 and 783. The appropriate fund code will be automatically populated in the application form (an Excel workbook) once districts select their name from the pull down menu on the Cover Sheet. SFSF grant amounts are posted at:

http://finance1.doe.mass.edu/chapter70/sfsf09.html.

Eligible expenses include any expenses incurred during the fourth quarter of FY2009 (April 1-June 30) that are directly related to the school district's operation, with the following exceptions:

• maintenance costs;

• stadiums or other facilities primarily used for athletic contests or exhibitions or other events for which admission is charged to the general public;

• purchase or upgrade of vehicles;

• improvement of stand-alone facilities whose purpose is not the education of children, including central office administration or operations or logistical support facilities.

Eligible expenses can include expenses in the school department budget as well as expenses in other municipal department budgets that directly support the operation of the schools.

Please note that any educator salaries charged to the SFSF grant will be subject to the 9% teacher retirement payment. Therefore, districts may wish to maximize the amount of non-salary expenses to be transferred to the grant. Out-of-district tuition, bus transportation, and employee health insurance are examples of eligible non-salary expenses that would avoid the 9 % assessment.

In order to expedite the distribution of funds, please return the application form and signed Cover Sheets by Friday, May 22, 2009

•      Part III - Required Program Information (Assurances)

•      WORKBOOK: Each district is required to submit two signed copies of the Cover Sheet, both with original signatures, and submit the grant budget form (Budget Pages) on the application form through the Security Portal. Submission instructions are included in the workbook.

Use of funds: Districts will be asked in their SFSF grant application to document the planned uses of the funds using ESE's standard grant budgeting format.

Accounting treatment: Grantees are expected to abide by all directives issued by the Massachusetts Department of Revenue (DOR) and ESE with respect to accounting for expenditures under this grant. See the following for additional guidance:
http://finance1.doe.mass.edu/chapter70/sfsf09.html.

Accountability and reporting: Districts will be asked to ensure transparency and accountability and report publicly on the use of funds.

In addition to the standard federal financial reports required for all federal grants, ESE will require extensive programmatic reporting to document the use of all ARRA funds. ESE is still waiting on final guidance from ED on the specific data to be collected, but all SFSF recipients will be expected to comply with the finalized data reporting requirements. Districts receiving an SFSF grant should anticipate that they will be required to report separately and in detail regarding the use and impact of these funds.

For additional guidance:  http://www.ed.gov/programs/statestabilization/guidance.pdf.

Complete and submit the application form through the Security Portal. Mail (2) copies of the Cover Sheet, each with the Superintendent's original signature, to:

Lynn McKnight
School Business Services
Massachusetts Department of
Elementary and Secondary Education
75 Pleasant Street
Malden, MA 02148-4906