2015 U.S. Department of Education Funding Forecast Updated (December 30, 2014)
The U.S. Department of Education (ED) has updated its Forecast of Funding Opportunities under the Department of Education Discretionary Grant Programs for Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 several times since the beginning of November. The last update occurred 12/30/2014, although communications with grant Program Managers have shown that not all information has been updated yet. Be sure to visit the link to the Forecast to get the full details, but also contact the Program Managers to confirm all information prior to acting. The Forecast is an evolving document, and the federal budget was just settled in mid-December, so there hasn’t been time for it to be fully reflected on the Forecast yet.
We’ve broken down some key takeaways from some of the grant programs we specialize in here:
- Carol M. White Physical Education Program (PEP) – We’ve hear back from ED and there will not be a new PEP competition in 2015 despite indications to the contrary on the current Forecast. For more information and alternative grant opportunities to consider see are 2015 PEP grant update post.
- Elementary and Secondary School Counseling Programs – This program will fund “down the slate” in 2015. 2014 applicants should pay attention to updates on the program and be sure the email they used for their project is still in use and frequently checked. Awards will be made on or before 9/30/2015.
- School Climate Transformation Grant – This program will fund “down the slate” in 2015. 2014 applicants should pay attention to updates on the program and be sure the email they used for their project is still in use and frequently checked.
- Project Prevent Grant Program – This program will fund “down the slate” in 2015. 2014 applicants should pay attention to updates on the program and be sure the email they used for their project is still in use and frequently checked.
- Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools TA Grant Program – This program estimates 5 awards in the amount of $500,000 based on the Forecast.
- Full-Service Community Schools – This program’s information was previously updated with 10 awards with an estimated average size of $500,000 expected. Per our communication with the Program Manager, while down-the-slate funding is not yet indicated on the Forecast for this program, ED has not yet determined whether new awards will be made down the slate or if a new competition will be held in 2015.
Although there are no estimated dates for the programs mentioned it is helpful to see what programs ED expects to make awards for in 2015. As updates happen, we’ll be updating our blog as well as InsightGrants on twitter.
ED Press Release: U.S. Department of Education Announces Awards of Over $70 Million to Improve School Climate and Keep Students Safe
The U.S. Department of Education has announced funding awards through four new grant programs designed to help keep students safe and improve learning environments. These programs are School Climate Transformation grants to school districts, School Climate Transformation grants to states, Project Prevent grants to school districts, and School Emergency Management grants to states. To see the list of winners for each program as well as detailed information on the program initiatives view the US ED press release.
The Insight Team would like to congratulate two of our clients who were fortunate to be awarded funding in these important new programs. Cleveland Hill Union Free School District, NY, was awarded a 2014 School Climate Transformation Grant for LEAs. Cleveland Hill’s Year 1 award amount is $222,037, and the five-year award is anticipated to be $1,095,493. New London Public Schools, CT, was awarded a 2014 Project Prevent Grant. New London’s Year 1 award amount is $616,131, and the total five-year award anticipated to be between $2.5 and $2.9 million.
2015 PEP Grant Applicants
Updated January 2015: In communications we recently had with the PEP Program Manager, Carlette KyserPegram, we learned that the amount appropriated by Congress for 2015 was NOT enough to make new PEP grants in 2015. See more details here.
We are now in one of the busiest times of the year for educators and administrators. With the summer break coming to a close and the school year kicking into full swing, everyone has a full plate. For schools and organizations interested in applying for a PEP grant, it is important to keep the possibility of a 2015 competition on your radar. With the continued competitiveness of this important federal grant program, schools need to really prepare early in order to put themselves in a good position to submit a competitive application. For a few tips on important actions you can take to get a jump start on grant applications check out this list we put together with our partners at Polar USA.
If you are interested in hiring Insight to work with your school in developing and writing a PEP grant application, please contact us. We have several schools already on board for this year and will be taking on a limited number of additional applicants on a first come first serve basis. We are optimistic that there will be a 2015 competition, and with 2014 funding going “down the slate” to high-scoring but non-winning 2013 applicants, it is expected that a large number of applicants would be submitting in the event of a new competition 2015–making this year’s competition even more competitive.
We’ve been fortunate to have the opportunity to assist many clients in securing PEP funding. We’ve seen firsthand the incredibly positive personal fitness and nutrition education achievements this program has had on students around the country. Our CEO Rosalie Mangino-Crandall has written 24 winning PEP grants and edited another 46 winning PEP grants (70 total!).
For more information on our PEP Grant services check out the PEP Grant section of our site, or contact us. You can email info@insightgrants.com or fill out our contact form online here. We would be happy to discuss your ideas, where you currently are, our fees for developing and writing your application, and the best way to proceed.
We hope everyone has a safe and successful start to the school year!
Why Isn’t Your District Applying for School Climate Transformation Grants for LEAs in 2014?
On 5/13/2014, we published a blog post about one of the US Department of Education’s new school safety grants: School Climate Transformation Grants for LEAs. Applicants can request up to $750,000 per year for up to five years for projects that, “develop, enhance, or expand systems of support for, and technical assistance to, schools implementing an evidence-based multi-tiered behavioral framework for improving behavioral outcomes and learning conditions for all students.” This is a terrific opportunity for Local Educational Agencies such as school districts, charter schools, and consortia of LEAs to obtain funding for programs and resources that support positive student behaviors, social and emotional development, and mental health for students!
If these are areas of need in your schools, here are the top 6 reasons you should apply to this program in 2014 rather than a future year:
- Student needs won’t be resolved without intervention! Every student deserves a safe, comfortable, equitable learning environment that is supportive of his/her success. Apply in 2014 because your students shouldn’t have to wait any longer for an improved school climate–and can’t afford to.
- Approximately 118 awards are expected in 2014! While 5-10 years ago it might not have been terribly uncommon to see a grant program make 100-200 awards, those days are pretty much gone. In recent years, programs making 50-80 awards are thought to be making a lot of awards since most programs make under 50 awards in a given year, and many make far under 50. Apply in 2014 because based on the anticipated number of awards alone, your odds of winning will be significantly better than for most current grant programs.
- If this grant is offered again next year, more likely than not ED will only be able to make about half as many awards (or fewer) unless substantially more funding is allocated. In other future years, the number of new awards may be even smaller. Since this is a five-year grant program, this year–the very first year of the program–is likely to be the year we see the most new grants funded for several years since ED will have to use a portion of the funds allocated each future year to fund the continuation awards in addition to any new awards. In some future years, ED will be funding multiple years of continuation awards. For example, in 2018, ED will be funding awardees in Year 2 (2017 winners), Year 3 (2016 winners), Year 4 (2015 winners), and Year 5 (2016 winners). Continuation awards are typically committed before any new awards are made, as is fair. Whatever money remains in the allocation is available for new awards. In some future years, there may only be enough remaining for a small number of new awards or none at all. Apply in 2014 because it is likely fewer new awards (if any) will be available each future year, as the program will be supporting significant numbers of continuation awards.
- Applications are due 6/23/2014! While that’s less than a month away, if you begin working this week and work very diligently until the deadline, you still have time to put together a strong application. This is especially true if you recently applied for the Elementary and Secondary School Counseling grants due 4/28/2014 or a similarly-focused funding stream, since much of the need information is likely to be the same. You may be shying away from this application based on the fact that it’s due right as school is wrapping up for some districts and after school has closed for the summer for others. Here’s the thing: many schools are thinking that way, and June and July deadlines for US ED grants sometimes have few applicants for that reason! Apply in 2014 to seize the opportunity to be one of what is likely to be a relatively small pool (comparatively) of brave applicants who apply for a grant at the start of or during their summer breaks and capitalize on increased odds of winning as a result!
- This program is new this year! As programs age, they tend to evolve. While that is usually in many ways a really good thing, from an applicant/awardee standpoint, it often also means more rules and requirements during both the application and award periods. Apply in 2014 to take advantage of what are likely to be the least demanding application and award period reporting requirements!
- You can be one of the first! If you have an interest in serving as a leader for other schools in your county, region, state, or the nation, this grant offers you a great opportunity to do that in the area of behavioral health–one of the areas for which until now schools haven’t received much funding at all in recent years despite great need. Due to support by both the President and Congress, that’s about to change. 2014 will be the first year of award for this program, as well as for Project Aware (due 6/16/2014), Project Prevent (due 6/30/2014), and School Justice Collaboration Program: Keeping Kids in School and Out of Court (due 7/21/2014). Apply in 2014 to this and/or any of the three other new school safety grants to be leader and a model for other schools in improving student behavior and mental health to improve student safety and achievement!
School Climate Transformation Grants for LEAs are Now Open!
Another new school safety grant has opened! The School Climate Transformation Grant for LEAs program provides competitive grants to local educational agencies to develop, enhance, or expand systems of support for, and technical assistance to, schools implementing an evidence-based multi-tiered behavioral framework for improving behavioral outcomes and learning conditions for all students.
The U.S. Department of Education (ED) states that projects should: (1) build capacity for implementing a sustained, school-wide multi-tiered behavioral framework; (2) enhance capacity by providing training and technical assistance to schools; and (3) include an assurance that the applicant will work with a technical assistance provider, such as the PBIS Technical Assistance Center funded by the Department, to ensure that technical assistance related to implementing program activities is provided.
When is the Deadline?: Monday, June 23rd, 2014.
Who Can Apply?: Local educational agencies (LEAs), or consortia of LEAs. An LEA is a public school district or a charter school or cooperative education board designated as an LEA by state law.
Award Information: Range of awards are $100,000 to $750,000 per year for up to 5 years. Applicants may not request more than $750,000 in a single program year. This program does not require matching funds. 118 awards are expected to be made in 2014!
Where Can I Get Complete Details?: The application is available at the School Climate Transformation Grant page on ed.gov
Other Important Information: There are TWO versions of this grant: one for SEAs (State Education Agencies) and one for LEAs! Both are due June 23rd. The information contained here is about the LEA version of the grant. If you are an LEA looking to apply for this school safety funding, be sure you are looking at the ED information on the LEA version of the grant and accessing the LEA RFP and grants.gov application package!
Applicants who apply for this grant AND Project AWARE and coordinate with that effort and discuss the coordination in their applications can receive competitive preference (bonus) points. Applicants can also receive bonus points under the same Competitive Preference Priority by coordinating with other similar efforts in addition to or instead of Project AWARE. See the RFP for details!
Full Service Community Schools Grant Now Open!
Exciting news for elementary and secondary education schools: the Full Service Community Schools (FSCS) Grant is now open! This grant supports projects offering coordination of academic, social, and health services through partnerships between (1) public elementary and secondary schools; (2) the schools’ local educational agencies (LEAs); and (3) community-based organizations, nonprofit organizations, and other public or private entities.
When is the Deadline?: Friday, June 20th, 2014
Who Can Apply?: An applicant must be a consortium consisting of an LEA and one or more community-based organizations, nonprofit organizations, or other public or private entities.
Award Information: The estimated range for awards is $275,000 – $500,000 per year for up to five years. The applicant’s request amount for a single must not exceed $500,000. Applicants MUST provide a cash and/or inkind match and are encouraged to provide a minimum match of 20% from non-Federal sources. An estimated 10 awards will be made in 2014.
Where Can I Get Complete Details?: The Federal Register has thorough information on the grant, and the Full Service Community Schools page on ed.gov is updated with 2014 information. 2014 Frequently Asked Questions can be found on the program’s FAQ page. Note that you will need to go to the Full Service Community Schools grants.gov posting to obtain the full RFP. Once there, click on the “Application Package” tab toward the top of the page, then “Download” in the “Instructions and Applications” column around the middle of the page. Then sign up to receive program updates. Then click “1. Download Application Instruction” toward the bottom of the page.
Other Useful Information: The deadline for notice of intent to apply is May 21,2014, however submission of a Notice of Intent is optional–you can still apply if you don’t submit one. The department will hold a pre-application webinar for prospective applicants on Wednesday, May 21st, 2014 from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. EST.
Each applicant must include a Memorandum of Agreement that includes the roles, responsibilities, and signatures of all partners.
Use your time wisely: this is a lengthy, comprehensive application that cannot be completed well at that last minute. Start today!
If you are interested in grant writing or editing services for your project, please contact us. This will be a competitive program with a quickly approaching deadline, the sooner you get started the better!
Clarifications on the Project Prevent Grant
The RFP for the new US Department of Education Project Prevent grant can be found at http://www2.ed.gov/programs/projectprevent/applicant.html. All Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) interested in applying should begin working on their applications using the RFP ASAP!
Additionally, we have heard back from the Program Manager, Earl Myers, Jr. From our emails with Mr. Myers, we’ve confirmed:
- The award range of $250,000-$1,000,000 is per year.
- The anticipated average award is $487,500 per year.
- School safety personnel (like School Resource Officers) and school safety equipment (like new doors, locks, security cameras, etc.) are NOT allowable expenses under this program.
- Awards are anticipated by the end of September.
- Applicants should tentatively plan for a project start date of 10/1/2014.
- LEAs may apply as consortia if they wish to with one LEA serving as the lead applicant and all participating LEAs complying with all program rules, requirements, and data collection. Mr. Myers reminds us of the following important requirements for consortia applicants, “Under EDGAR 75.127, eligible entities may apply as a group (consortium) with one LEA serving as the lead. However, each member of the group must follow the legal provisions found in EDGAR 75.129 relevant to how to do so. These provisions include:
‘75.129 Legal responsibilities of each member of the group.
(a) If the Secretary makes a grant to a group of eligible applicants, the applicant for the group is the grantee and is legally responsible for: (1) The use of all grant funds; (2) Ensuring that the project is carried out by the group in accordance with Federal requirements; and (3) Ensuring that indirect cost funds are determined as required under §75.564(e).
(b) Each member of the group is legally responsible to: (1) Carry out the activities it agrees to perform; and (2) Use the funds that it receives under the agreement in accordance with Federal requirements that apply to the grant.'”
Good luck to all applying!
New School Safety Grant–Project Prevent–Opened Today!
One of the brand new ED School Safety Grants the Insight Team has been watching for, Project Prevent, opened today. Applications are due 6/30/14.
This program is focused on supporting schools in communities of high violence or schools with high violence in them through mental health professionals who provide students with counseling and referrals to partnering community agencies, training for staff, and proven-effective violence and risk behavior prevention and reduction programming. The Federal Register Notice seems to indicate that violence includes community violence like shootings, as well as domestic violence and other child abuse issues.
Local Educational Agencies (public school districts and charter schools that are designated Local Educational Agencies by their states) are eligible to apply.
Awards are for up to 5 years. The award size is $250,000-$1,000,000 (probably per year but the Federal Register Notice isn’t entirely clear about that; we’ve submitted a question). There is no matching requirement. About 20 awards are anticipated.
Applicants proposing to serve one or more high-poverty schools (schools with student populations with 50% or more of the students living in poverty based on free/reduced lunch numbers or other poverty indicators acceptable through the ESEA) can qualify for three bonus points via Competitive Preference Priority 1 provided they indicate they are responding to the Priority in their abstracts and list the high-poverty schools participating in their projects in their narratives. Also, Competitive Preference Priority 2 allows for three bonus points as well if the district is coordinating with a federally designated Promise Zone.
We’ve asked the contact if the grant will fund school safety staff such as School Resource Officers or school safety equipment such as new doors, locks, and cameras and are currently waiting to hear more on this.
Here’s the link to the Federal Register Notice, which actually provides tons of information on the program: https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2014/04/29/2014-09604/applications-for-new-awards-project-prevent-grant-program
The full RFP should be available tomorrow via grants.gov.
School Climate Transformation and Full Service Community Schools Grants will probably also be released later this week or next week. We’ll keep you updated on those right here on the Insight blog.
If you’d like to apply for this grant with Insight’s assistance, please contact us ASAP and we’ll send information on the cost of services. Given the limited number of awards anticipated, we’ll support a limited number of applicants to be fair to all. Further, two months is actually not long at all to prepare an application of this magnitude, and the program will likely be very, very competitive. Anyone looking to apply will want to start ASAP to have the best possible chance! Good luck!
2014 PEP Grant Winners Announced by U.S. Department of Education
The U.S. Department of Education has announced the award of 67 grants totaling nearly $33 million to Local Education Agencies and community-based organizations through the Carol M. White Physical Education Program (PEP). You can see the entire U.S. Department of Education 2014 PEP Press Release here. Congratulations to all those awarded, and great job to all who worked hard in putting together a proposal! We’d also like to individually congratulate the four winners who are Insight clients (Inner City Education Foundation (ICEF) Public Charter Schools (CA), LeRoy Central School (NY), Shepherd Public Schools (MT), and Shamokin Area School District (PA).
FY 2014 Carol M. White Physical Education Program (PEP) Grant Recipients
|
Alaska |
|
| Alaska Gateway School District |
$469,262 |
|
Alabama |
|
| Gadsden City Board of Education |
$368,908 |
| Walker County Board of Education |
$729,753 |
|
Arkansas |
|
| Mansfield School District 76 |
$160,000 |
|
Arizona |
|
| San Carlos Unified School District |
$578,221 |
|
California |
|
| California Health Collaborative |
$644,351 |
| Youth Policy Institute |
$750,000 |
| Mission View Public Charter School |
$256,764 |
| Kids Moving, Inc. |
$602,760 |
| Alta Vista Public Charter Inc. |
$427,942 |
| Inner City Education Foundation (ICEF)Public Charter Schools |
$845,138 |
|
Colorado |
|
| School District No. 1 in the City and County of Denver |
$508,006 |
|
Connecticut |
|
| Capitol Region Education Council |
$350,452 |
|
Florida |
|
| The School Board of Broward County, FL |
$950,949 |
| Caridad Center, Inc. |
$600,146 |
|
Idaho |
|
| Moscow School District No.281 |
$452,654 |
|
Illinois |
|
| Matteson School District 162 |
$242,470 |
| Woodstock Community Unit School District 200 |
$550,190 |
| East St. Louis School District 189 |
$635,985 |
|
Indiana |
|
| Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation |
$384,563 |
|
Kansas |
|
| Boys and Girls Clubs of Topeka |
$272,480 |
|
Kentucky |
|
| Fleming County Schools |
$343,709 |
| Danville Independent School District |
$379,796 |
| Menifee County School District |
$260,261 |
| Ashland Independent School District |
$214,843 |
|
Louisiana |
|
| Madison-Tallulah Education Center |
$573,202 |
|
Massachusetts |
|
| Somerville Public Schools |
$613,554 |
| Brockton Public Schools |
$645,264 |
|
Maine |
|
| Healthy Community Coalition |
$727,772 |
|
Michigan |
|
| Kent Intermediate School District |
$429,404 |
| Lansing School District |
$715,726 |
|
Minnesota |
|
| Waubun-Ogema-White Earth Community Schools |
$172,052 |
| Hendricks Public School |
$420,408 |
|
Mississippi |
|
| Simpson County School District |
$496,618 |
|
Montana |
|
| Shepherd Public Schools |
$351,802 |
| Hays Lodge ole School District 50 |
$390,684 |
|
North Dakota |
|
| Divide County #1 School District |
$690,869 |
|
Nebraska |
|
| Educational Service Unit #1 |
$494,356 |
| Educational Service Unit #6 |
$760,419 |
|
New Mexico |
|
| The Grant Experts, dba: Capacity Builders, Inc. |
$718,465 |
|
New York |
|
| Holley Central School District |
$441,840 |
| LeRoy Central School |
$445,037 |
| St. Christophers Incorporated |
$577,861 |
| Clyde-Savannah Central School District |
$358,468 |
| I Challenge Myself, Inc. |
$219,622 |
| Olean City School District |
$409,217 |
| Lewiston-Porter Central School District |
$701,703 |
|
Ohio |
|
| Lake County General Health District |
$746,436 |
|
Oklahoma |
|
| Putnam City School District 1-001, Oklahoma County |
$734,222 |
| Schools for Healthy Lifestyles, Inc. |
$934,767 |
| Keys Public Schools |
$607,828 |
| Checotah Public Schools |
$450,716 |
|
Pennsylvania |
|
| Keystone Central School District |
$280,570 |
| Archway Charter School of Chester, Inc. |
$750,010 |
| The School District of the City of Erie, PA |
$582,627 |
| Shamokin Area School District |
$537,167 |
|
South Dakota |
|
| DIAL/MCEC |
$429,680 |
|
Tennessee |
|
| Boys & Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley |
$509,412 |
|
Texas |
|
| Harlandale Independent School District |
$750,000 |
|
Utah |
|
| Salt Lake City School District |
$529,811 |
|
Wisconsin |
|
| Unity School District |
$375,151 |
| West Allis-West Milwaukee School District |
$857,413 |
| Lake Geneva Jt#1 Elementary School District |
$281,641 |
| Pittsville School District |
$442,525 |
| Riverdale School District |
$391,699 |
| Highland School District |
$359,816 |
| Mukwonago Area School District |
$446,041 |
We’ve already begun signing up and working with applicants interested in applying in 2015. Although there is no guarantee of a 2015 PEP competition, we do anticipate one. With the competition becoming more and more competitive each year, it helps to get some pieces of your project in order far in advance, and an early start makes this more achievable. If you are interested in working with us for your PEP Grant project, contact us.
2014 PEP Grant Awards Are Coming Soon!
Yesterday we started hearing about schools being notified by members of Congress that they had won 2014 Carol M. White PEP grants! If you applied for a PEP grant in 2013 and scored highly but did not win, it’s possible you may be selected for a 2014 award since the US Department of Education (ED/US ED) is funding down the slate this year rather than holding a new PEP grant competition. This means new applications are not being accepted in 2014, BUT new awards will still be made. The pool of eligible applicants in 2014 includes all 2013 PEP grant applicants who did not win an award in 2014. Applications are not re-scored, however, and awards are made based on reviewer scores, so those who scored well in 2013 will be in the best positions for 2014 awards.
If you have been selected for an award in 2014, you may or may not hear the news first from your House Rep and/or Senator. Not all members choose to contact their constituents. Either way, if you’ve won an award this year, ED will email and/or mail your organization an official Grant Award Notification (GAN) document in the near future.
The full list of 2014 PEP grant winners should be out very soon now that Congressional notifications have begun. We’ll post it here when it’s available. Good luck to all 2013 applicants in the running for 2014!
