Grants and Other Financial Assistance Programs: FY2008

FY2008 Electronic Requests for Proposals for No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), Special Education, and Perkins Act Entitlement Grants

MEMORANDUM

Electronic Requests for Proposals (RFPs)

I am pleased to provide you with the web links to the Electronic Requests for Proposals (RFPs) for the major federal FY2008 entitlement grant programs of NCLB (Titles I, II-A, II-D, III, IV, and V), Special Education (IDEA), and Perkins Act. Since we generally receive final funding information from the United States Department of Education (USED) for Special Education and Perkins IV programs earlier than for the NCLB Titles, separate Electronic RFPs are provided for these programs.

Important Change for the No Child Left Behind Act Grant Submissions

Those districts that have approved FY2007 NCLB grants will not be required to submit FY2008 Program Narrative information (e.g., needs assessment, program goals and objectives, descriptions of proposed activities, professional development plans, program evaluation plans, etc.). The Department will assume that, for the most part, districts will continue with the same general uses of funds in FY2008 as in FY2007. If, however, a district is making a significant change, this should be noted in the grant file that is maintained locally. This information does not need to be sent to the Department. However, districts are encouraged to contact their program liaison to discuss any significant changes if in doubt about their appropriateness under the particular funding source. The FY2008 Electronic Requests for Proposals contain the instructions and materials needed to receive funding for each federal grant program. We hope that this new process will streamline the application process and reduce the paperwork burden on districts.

Annual Assurances

Related to the change in the required NCLB grant materials, it is important that Superintendents read carefully the annual state and federal Assurances document, which will be sent under separate cover, and make certain the district is in compliance with each item. Several additional Assurances have been added for the NCLB programs. Assurance Statement A-4. Required Reports, Records, and Program Evaluations assures the Department that the district will maintain and make available to the Department the required reports, records, and program evaluations. This would include the program narrative information for the federal NCLB grants indicating either "no change" from FY2007 to FY2008 or, in the case of a significant change, specifying the nature of the change for FY2008.

Also, please note that there is a new state Assurance in the FY2008 document. Assurance B-3. addresses school building health, safety, and fire inspections.

Administrative Guidance

This coming Fall, the Department intends to issue administrative guidance on how districts can fulfill their responsibilities, as detailed in the annual Assurances document, for federal grant programs. The guidance will cover the development of policies, procedures, and practices that will address the cross-cutting program requirements of NCLB. The goal is for districts to have the required information in one coordinated manual, instead of in separate program files, and to be able to use this information for short- and long-term strategic planning throughout the school year. Items that would be covered include: needs assessments; professional development; parental and community notification and involvement; using scientifically based research in selecting programs; program reporting and evaluations; fiscal accountability, etc. Also, the guidance will provide information on timelines for when activities need to take place. More information on this will be shared with districts at a later time.

Grant Allocations

Preliminary estimates for Title I grants were provided to districts on April 13, 2007. Since we cannot provide grant estimates for other programs at this time, we recommend that districts check with their Department program liaisons to obtain the best current planning estimate for the specific grant programs.

Rolling Submission Period and District Grant Coordinator(s)

We have established a "rolling submission" period for all entitlement and allocation grants. However, districts are encouraged to submit applications by Friday, June 22, 2007 for those grant programs that have provided final allocations. Applications submitted or approved after September 1, 2007 can legally claim expenses to the grant only from the date of final Department approval. Therefore, it is important to have district program staff who can be reached in July and August to respond to questions, as needed.

In FY2007, Superintendents and Charter School Leaders identified the individual(s) who is responsible for submitting the electronic budget workbooks and other required forms to the Department's security web portal. If the individual(s) will be different for FY2008, Superintendents and Charter School Leaders should email the name(s) and contact information to dbartlett-wilcox@doe.mass.edu. District program directors who generally prepare grant applications should check with their Superintendent or Charter School Leader regarding the local grant contact person and grant submission plans.

Continuation and Other Non-Competitive Grant Applications

We have not included continuation and other non-competitive grant applications that are not available to all districts in this electronic grant process. All continuation and other non-competitive grant RFPs will be posted on our Website at http://finance1.doe.mass.edu/grants/.

We look forward to assisting you in whatever ways we can.