Grants and Other Financial Assistance Programs: FY2008

FY2009 Electronic Requests for Proposals for No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), Special Education, and Perkins Act Entitlement Grants

MEMORANDUM

Electronic Requests for Proposals

I am pleased to provide you with the web links to the Electronic Requests for Proposals (RFPs) for the major federal FY2009 entitlement grant programs of NCLB (Titles I, II-A, II-D, III, and IV), Special Education (IDEA), and Perkins Act. As noted in the recent letter mailed to all districts and posted in the April 7th Commissioner's Update, there will be no new funds available for distribution in this upcoming year (FY2009) through Title V, Part A (Fund Code 302). For more details on Title V, please see http://www.doe.mass.edu/titlev/040408alert.html.

No Child Left Behind Act Grant Submissions

Those districts that have approved FY2008 NCLB grants are not required to submit FY2009 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 FY2009 as in FY2008 and FY2007. If, however, a district is making a significant change, this should be noted in the grant file that is maintained locally. While this information does not need to be sent to the Department, it should be maintained at the local level for possible review by Department staff during program reviews or other onsite visits.

Applicants must complete and submit the forms listed under "Required Forms" for the various funding sources.

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 FY2009 Electronic RFPs contain the instructions and materials needed to receive funding for each federal grant program.

Annual Assurances

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. For example, Assurance Statement A-4. Required Reports, Records, and Program Evaluations assures the Department that the district will maintain and make available to the Department all required reports, records, and program evaluations. This would include the program narrative information for the federal NCLB grants, as stated above.

Grant Allocations

Preliminary estimates for Title I grants were provided to districts on April 11, 2008. Perkins Act allocations were provided to districts on April 8, 2008. 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 20, 2008 for those grant programs that have final allocations. Applications submitted or approved after September 1, 2008 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 FY2008, 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 FY2009, 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, Competitive, and Other Non-Competitive Grant Applications

We have not included continuation, competitive, and other non-competitive grant applications in this electronic grant process. All continuation, competitive, and other non-competitive grant RFPs will be posted on the ESE Web site at http://finance1.doe.mass.edu/grants/.

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