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A Microsoft Word version of this letter is available for download
and PRINTING. |
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Funding Available
SUBJECT: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) TO THE ADMINISTRATOR ADDRESSED: The 2009-2010 ARRA Title XIV SFSF Grant Application will become available in eGrants on or about Monday, August 3, 2009. Description of Program The 81st Texas Legislature, 2009, passed House Bill 3646 which increased state funding for public schools by modifying the state’s Foundation School Program (FSP) formulas. The bill guarantees each school a minimum annual increase of $120 per student in weighted average daily attendance. In anticipation that the Texas stabilization application would be approved, state lawmakers appropriated SFSF, along with over $30 billion of state funds, to finance the FSP formula changes of HB 3646. The SFSF appropriation amounts to less than 3% of a local education agency’s (LEA) total state and local FSP funding. All money awarded through these formulas (including SFSF) must be spent in accordance with state and federal requirements, which include a pay raise for school district employees who are subject to the minimum salary schedule. Please note that LEAs are not required to use SFSF to finance the pay raise provided by HB 3646. To avoid a funding cliff and because of the detailed record keeping that will be required for those whose salaries are paid fully or in part with stimulus funds, districts are encouraged to finance the pay raise with other state and local funds while utilizing their limited SFSF to advance educational reforms and improving student achievement in the four areas described below. In order to receive the portion of FSP funding financed with SFSF, federal law requires the district to submit an application to TEA. In this application, Local Education Agencies (LEAs) are required to describe how the LEAs will assist the state in continuing to advance essential reforms in the four areas for which the state provided assurances in its application to receive SFSF. LEAs are expected to demonstrate how they will use the SFSF to promote the following ARRA four essential areas of reform:
Prior to submitting an application for SFSF to TEA, LEAs are encouraged to use a needs assessment for their district in order to determine how the money can be used most effectively. ARRA requires SFSF funds to be expended for any activities authorized under the following acts:
“Texas Steps Up” Eligible Applicants Allocations Applicants are not eligible to receive a Notice of Grant Award (NOGA) until they have submitted the Data Collection to TEA requesting the DUNS number, CCR CAGE code, and congressional district number, and those numbers have been verified by TEA. Please refer to the April 17, 2009, letter posted to the TEA Correspondence webpage pertaining to Data Collection of DUNS Number, CCR CAGE Code, and U.S. Congressional District Number—Required for Award of ARRA (aka “Stimulus”) Funds. Grant applications will be accepted and approved on a rolling basis in order to allocate these funds quickly and in a manner consistent with the ARRA. Please contact Carrie Lopez in the Division of Discretionary Grants at carrie.lopez@tea.state.tx.us if you need to confirm whether your organization submitted this required information to TEA. It only needs to be submitted to TEA once. Reporting Deadlines The reporting deadlines for the 2009-2010 ARRA Title XIV State Fiscal Stabilization Fund (SFSF) Grant Application are listed in the table below. The U. S. Department of Education is developing guidance on the ARRA quarterly reporting requirements that will be available in the near future. LEAs will have reporting requirements throughout the grant period as it relates to funds expended and quarterly reporting requirements as it relates to jobs created, jobs saved, and other programmatic measures. As TEA receives further guidance from USDE on specific reporting requirements, the information will be disseminated to the LEAs. Districts that are awarded grants are responsible for meeting all required deadlines. Failure to meet deadlines may result in loss of funds and could cause the LEA to be identified as “high risk.” Please remember, funds received under ARRA must be reported and tracked separately.
The application begin date is 9/01/2009 or the date the application is received in TEA in substantially approvable form, whichever is later. Pre-award costs will be permitted for the period between February 17, 2009 (the enactment date of ARRA) and the effective date of the application, if specifically requested in the application. Information and Assistance In addition to the webinars, TEA will provide a variety of resources including a strategic guidance document for LEAs on the TEA stimulus Web site to aid in this process. In order to be responsive to LEAs, the Web site will continually be updated to reflect common questions and concerns from the LEAs. For information about how the amount of the award was 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 indicate that you need information about the HB 3646 calculation in order to route your call to the appropriate staff. For program information, please contact the Office of ARRA Coordination at (512) 936-3647, or e-mail arrastimulus@tea.state.tx.us. Sincerely,
Yolanda Cantu  |
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