1. Grant Maintenance Title I Technical Assistance & Networking Session October 6, 2011

2. Introduction  Title I Staff  Melissa Williams, Grants Specialist  is the main contact for TA regarding grants and amendments;  works closely with Grants Management Office;  maintains Title I Grant Application & Amendment Drop Box; and  also participates in grant, amendment, and programmatic reviews.  Erica, Russ, Julia, Ken, Alex, Susan, Matthew N., & Matt P.  all participate in  Programmatic review of grants and amendments;  Coordinated Program Reviews;  lead on specific areas: SES, Private schools, Time & Effort/Comparability, N or D, ETC. 2 Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

3. What we will cover today  Basic grant info  Helpful web-sites  Title I Specifics  FAQs  Request for funds  Amendments  Carryovers  Dates to Remember 3 Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

4. Grants in General  All grants have Parts I and II (aka cover sheet and budget pages), many have Part III (Program Narrative and/or Other Info) ;  Vast majority come in to ESE in electronic format:  Some just as basic budget pages;  Some as ‘workbooks’ that include multiple ‘tabs/worksheets’;  Some workbooks are more sophisticated than others, have embedded pull downs, narrative sections, other forms, automatic MTRS calculation or not, indirect cost worksheet or not..just depends..there is no real ‘standard’ workbook. 4 Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

5. Helpful Websites  www.doe.mass.eduwww.doe.mass.edu  www.doe.mass.edu/titlei www.doe.mass.edu/titlei  http://finance1.doe.mass.edu/Grants/default.h tml http://finance1.doe.mass.edu/Grants/default.h tml  www.doe.mass.edu/NCLB/grant www.doe.mass.edu/NCLB/grant 5 Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

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10. Current Status of FY12 Title I Grants  There are 349 districts who are eligible to write a Title I Application.  Currently we have received 308 grant applications.  Of those grants, 276 have been approved and sent to Grants Management.  And of those, 258 have been fully processed (project number, start date, first payment etc.) 10 Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

11. Official Award Notification (AKA - Payment Notification)  Will be emailed from Grants Management to the contact listed on the grant (checking this w/Grants)  DON’T FORGET the Payment notification won’t have:  the correct amount you wrote for;  the breakdown of the line item totals. 11 Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

12. The reason for this (and it happens every year):  The USED does not send states their full allotment; we get about 25% of the allocation;  Grants Management “tricks” the system so all districts can get their first payment;  This then corrects itself in the 2 nd or 3 rd Payment Notification. Please let your business office know this. 12 Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

13. Requesting Funds  See ‘Appendix F’ ESE PowerPoint presentation regarding this topic @:  http://finance1.doe.mass.edu/Grants/procedure/def ault.html http://finance1.doe.mass.edu/Grants/procedure/def ault.html  The PP will show you how to view grants, request funds, the payment schedule, final reports, etc. 13 Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

14. Frequent Questions ESE Receives  Has my grant been received/approved?  When do I get official approval notification?  What will the start date be?  Why is the amount on system different than what I wrote for?  How many payments will we receive?  How do we request funds?  When can I amend my grant?  Why is my final financial report not on system or the last amendment is showing? 14 Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

15. Amending Grants  Must use ‘amendment-ready’ workbook (specific to grants filed electronically);  Must adhere to timing of amendments – 30 days prior to the change taking place;  An amendment is NOT needed if the increase to a line is 10% or less (unless it exceeds $10,000) or is under $100 15 Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

16.  Can’t decrease SES/Choice until December, after two enrollments have taken place (Title I Specific);  Approval time generally takes 30 days from upload date (Title I specific);  Signed amendment form should be signed off by superintendent or his/her designee. If the designee is the grant contact then the superintendent should sign off;  Updating the narrative section (activity tab): Filling out the justification on the amendment tab is not enough if you have multiple tabs. Keep existing text and add “Amendment & date” at end and explain the changes. 16 Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

17. Carryover/Unspent Funds  How Carryover Grants are generated:  By decreasing your grant  By leaving funds “on the table” – either by not writing for your full amount or not request your last payment  By submitting your Final Financial Report and showing an unexpended balance;  Applications will be emailed out to those that have carryover. 17 Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

18.  The same Title I regulations apply to spending these funds - except you are not required to take set-asides, but you can use these funds to meet the set-aside requirement to your regular Title I grant;  Unless the previous year’s obligation for SES, PD or private schools were not fully met.  These are FY12 grants and are pulling funds from the FY11 account – that is the only difference. Request for funds and the final financial report need to be done. 18 Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

19. Important Dates to Remember  June/July: Allocation for the next fiscal year are released;  August 1 st : Submit grant if you want a 9/1 start date;  August/September: Contact with your reviewer will take place, if needed. This will happen within 30 days of submitting your application; 19 Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

20.  August/September/October: Applications are sent to Grants Management as they are approved;  August/September: First payment is automatically sent, usually 14 days after grant is posted;  October: Finalized workbooks are posted to the Security Portal. An email notice will follow;  October-July: Amendments are allowed; 20 Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

21.  Last two weeks of every month: Request for payments are allowed, last one allowed in July;  March/April: Increase/decrease amendments are due;  May-August: Request a grant extension from August 31 st to September 30 th - this is only for Title I;  September-November: Final Financial Reports (FR-1) are due; 21 Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

22.  August-November: Carryover workbooks are sent out; and  December 31 st : Final deadline to submit current year’s grants and the carryover application. If not, available funds will be reallocated. 22 Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

23. Question Time Melissa Williams781-338-6233mwilliams@doe.mass.edumwilliams@doe.mass.edu 23 Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education