District/School Administration Administration
The Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education

Report on Grants Approved by Commissioner since June 2008; Authorization to Commissioner

The state budget takes effect on July 1st, but the Board typically does not meet in July. For that reason, in June the Board votes a standard motion to authorize the Commissioner to approve grants between the June meeting and the next regular Board meeting. Enclosed is a report on the competitive grants that I approved this summer, under the authority that the Board granted to me at the June 25th meeting. I reviewed and approved 272 grants totaling $19,736,062 under 30 different state and federal competitive grant programs.

I found the approval process to be very informative as I met with the Department administrator and staff responsible for each of the program areas. We reviewed the recommended grantees and discussed the reasons that others were not being recommended. Once I had approved a grant program's recommended recipients, we posted the awards on our website as soon as possible (generally within 24 hours) so that implementation plans and activities could begin immediately. Our staff was able to inform applicants that were not successful and provide feedback on strengths and weaknesses in a timely manner. This quick turnaround allowed both those that were successful and those that were not to make or adjust their plans for the upcoming school year. This process has allowed us to be more responsive to our constituents and to help them get services underway earlier in the school year. This is especially useful for state-funded grants that have an end date of June 30th.

This month I am again requesting that the Board authorize me to approve grants between the September 10th meeting and the regular meeting of the Board on October 21st. This will allow us to meet the state requirement to award $5.4 million in After-School and Out-of-School Time grants by September 30, 2008. We are currently reviewing 204 proposals (totaling over $17 million in requested funding) that we received for this program. The authorization vote will also allow us to meet the federal requirement to obligate by September 30th funds that we received in July for a nutrition grant program. In addition, there may be some other grant programs that should, if possible, begin before the end of October. I will report to the Board in October on any grants that I approve. A motion is enclosed.