SUBJECT: 2010-2011 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Title XIV State Fiscal Stabilization Funds Grant Application

The 2010-2011 ARRA Title XIV State Fiscal Stabilization Funds (SFSF) grant application is available in eGrants.

Description of Program

The 2010-2011 ARRA Title XIV SFSF grant program is intended to support elementary, secondary, and post-secondary education and, as applicable, early childhood education programs and services. For the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) to award SFSF funding to the state, Texas was required to provide assurance that it would continue to advance certain essential education reforms to improve student achievement. The USDE awarded 67% of the total allocation to Texas in July 2009 in Phase I of the Education Fund under SFSF. The remaining 33% will be awarded to Texas upon approval of the Phase II SFSF application by the USDE.

Eligible Applicants

Independent school districts and open-enrollment charter schools with a 2010-2011 Foundation School Program funding allocation are eligible to apply for 2010-2011 ARRA Title XIV SFSF funding. Shared services arrangements (SSAs, or consortiums) are not allowed as part of the grant program.

Deadline to Apply

Eligible applicants must apply through the eGrants system by 5:00 p.m. Central Time, Monday, August 23, 2010.

Project Period

The project begin date is September 1, 2010. Although pre-award costs for the 2010-2011 ARRA Title XIV SFSF grant application will be permitted, the effective dates for such pre-award costs have not yet been determined and are contingent upon receipt of the federal USDE notice of grant award (NOGA) for Phase II of SFSF. Applicants will be notified of the earliest possible pre-award date once that is known.

Allocations

With the 2010-2011 ARRA Title XIV SFSF grant application, local educational agencies (LEAS) are applying for FSP formula funding financed in part by SFSF for state fiscal year 2011. LEAs can view their SFSF FSP formula allocation online at http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/opge/formfund/generalinformation/entitlementsbyprogram.html.

For information on how award amounts were calculated, please see the calculation of “Additional State Aid for Tax Reduction” on the school district’s Summary of Finances report on the State Funding website. For questions about these calculations, please contact the State Funding Division at (512) 463-9238 and ask for information about the 2010-2011 SFSF allocation calculations.

Allowable Activities

SFSF funds are federal funds, and ARRA requires SFSF funds to be expended for activities authorized under one or more of the federal acts listed below. Refer to Part 2: Program Guidelines posted with the application for additional information related to the use of funds, including statutory prohibitions.

• Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) (http://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/esea02/index.html)
• Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) (http://idea.ed.gov/explore/view/p/,root,statute,)
• Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA) (http://www2.ed.gov/policy/adulted/leg/legis.html)
• Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (Perkins) (http://www2.ed.gov/policy/sectech/leg/perkins/index.html)

Before submitting the 2010-2011 ARRA Title XIV SFSF grant application, LEAs are encouraged to conduct a needs assessment to determine how funds can be used most effectively.

LEAs are not required to use SFSF funds for any particular purpose and may expend these funds on any allowable activities under the federal acts listed above. Because of the detailed record-keeping requirements associated with ARRA funds, including SFSF, and the limited term nature of this one-time funding, LEAs should carefully consider how to deploy these funds, particularly if considering using funds for essential employees and programs.

ARRA Four Essential Areas of Education Reform

TEA and USDE encourage LEAs to use SFSF funds on activities promoting the four essential education reforms described below.

• Making progress toward rigorous college-and career-ready standards and high-quality assessments that are valid and reliable for student, including English language learners and student with disabilities
• Establishing pre-K to college and career data systems that track progress and foster continuous improvement
• Making improvements in teacher effectiveness and in the equitable distribution of qualified teachers for all students, particularly students who are most in need
• Providing intensive support and effective interventions for the lowest-performing schools

How to Apply

To apply, applicants must have access to eGrants through the Texas Education Agency Secure Environment (TEA SE). Applicants who do not have a TEA SE ID and password can request access at http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/opge/egrant/index.html. An overview of the TEA SE online request process can be found at http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/opge/egrant/eGrantsOverview.pdf. If you need further assistance, please contact the eGrants Help Desk by telephone at (512) 463-7025 or via e-mail egrants@tea.state.tx.us.

Data Collection: Pre-NOGA Requirement

Applicants are not eligible to receive a NOGA until they have submitted the data collection including the applicant’s DUNS number, CCR CAGE code, and congressional district number. If you received SFSF funding in 2009-2010, you have already completed this data collection and have met this requirement. For details on this data collection, see the “To the Administrator Addressed” letter posted to the TEA Correspondence page on April 17, 2009 (http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/taa/discgrants041709.html).

Please note that while applicants register with CCR only once; the registration must be renewed and revalidated annually, as described in the “To the Administrator Addressed” letter posted to the TEA Correspondence page on May 18, 2010 (http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/taa/opge051810.html).

Grant applications will be accepted and approved on a rolling basis in order to allocate these funds quickly and in a manner consistent with ARRA requirements and intent.

Reporting Requirements and Deadlines

The USDE has made clear that every dollar spent under the ARRA will be subject to the most stringent standards of accountability and transparency. To support the most effective uses of ARRA funds, to accurately measure and track results, and to prevent fraud and abuse, ARRA grant recipients must publicly report on how funds are used. ARRA funds are subject to federal review by multiple federal agencies. As such, LEAs receiving SFSF funding must maintain records that separately track the SFSF funds received and must report financial information every quarter in accordance with Section 1511 and Section 1512 of ARRA. Reporting requirements include funds expended, jobs funded, as well as information related to the expenditure of funds for infrastructure investment. To obtain more information on ARRA Section 1511 infrastructure investment certifications, as well as a list of provisions and assurances for infrastructure investments, and ARRA Section 1512 reporting requirements and quarterly reporting dates, navigate as follows:

1. Access the TEA main webpage http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index.aspx
2. Select “ARRA stimulus and stabilization” on the top left hand menu
3. Select “ARRA Reporting” on the bottom left hand menu
4. Select “Section 1511 Certification” and/or “Section 1512 Reporting”, as applicable

Expenditure reporting deadlines for the 2010-2011 ARRA Title XIV SFSF grant application are listed in the table below. Grantees are responsible for meeting all required deadlines. Failure to meet deadlines may result in loss of funds and could cause the grantee to be identified as “high risk” and have special conditions imposed by TEA.

There will be no opportunity for a revised final expenditure report. Grantees must ensure that the final expenditure report is 100% accurate.

Information and Assistance

TEA provides a variety of ARRA-related resources online at TEA’s ARRA Web site, www.tea.state.tx.us/arrastimulus. Included among those resources are strategic guidance, links to register for technical assistance webinars, links for downloading of archived webinars, and information related to Section 1511 Infrastructure Certification and Section 1512 Quarterly Reporting. The ARRA Web site will be updated regularly to provide LEAs the information needed to comply with ARRA requirements.

For program information, please call the Division of NCLB Program Coordination at (512) 463-9374, or visit the program Web site at www.tea.state.tx.us/arrastimulus.

For funding information, please call the Division of Formula Funding at (512) 463-8525, or access the Formula Funding Toolbox section of the TEA Grant Opportunities Web site (http://burleson.tea.state.tx.us/GrantOpportunities/forms/).

Sincerely,
Yolanda Cantu
Senior Director, Division of Formula Funding