Grants and Other Financial Assistance Programs

FY2024: Title IV, Part A: Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grant

Fund Code: 0309

Purpose:

Title IV, Part A of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) provides supplemental resources to local school districts to build capacity to help ensure that all students have equitable access to high quality educational experiences.

Title IV, Part A is one of four principle programs that are available to districts through formula grants under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the current reauthorization of ESEA. The other programs are Title I, Part A; Title II, Part A; and Title III, Part A.

Priorities:

The priorities of Title IV, Part A are to:

Support well-rounded educational opportunities;
Support safe and healthy students; and
Support effective use of technology.

Districts are required to prioritize funds to schools based on one or more of the following criteria:

they are among the schools with the greatest need (as determined by the district);
the have the highest percentages of low-income students;
they are identified for comprehensive support and improvement;
they have consistently underperforming subgroups; and
they are identified as a persistently dangerous public elementary school or secondary school under section 8532 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).

Note: Title IV, Part A does not require that funds are allocated directly to schools. Funds may be used for district-wide and other programming/activities that support as many students and teachers as possible, particularly those in schools that meet the three Title IV priorities.

In addition to the above priorities, the Title IV, Part A program supports Massachusetts' goals and strategies (listed below) by encouraging effective investments that promote continuous program improvement and better outcomes for students.

State Goal, Core Strategies, ESSA Priorities and Our Way Forward in Massachusetts Initiatives

The goal of Massachusetts' public K–12 education system is to prepare all students for success after high school. Our five core strategies to accelerate the pace of school improvement are:

Strengthening standards, curriculum, instruction, and assessment
Promoting educator development
Supporting social-emotional learning, health, and safety
Turning around the state's lowest performing districts and schools
Enhancing resource allocation and data use

Massachusetts has identified four priority focus areas under its plan for implementing the Every Student Succeeds Act:

Early grades literacy
Middle grades math
High-quality college and career pathways for high school students
Supporting historically disadvantaged groups of students

Massachusetts Acceleration Roadmap
Massachusetts has developed a tool to support acceleration of student learning. Schools and districts are encouraged to use the self-assessment resources in the Roadmap to identify key areas of focus and related action steps in their work accelerating learning, and then align their funding requests with these identified steps.

Additionally, districts may explore the use of these funds to support the "Our Way Forward" initiatives. This includes:

Deeper Learning for All
Holistic Support and Enrichment
Innovation and Evidence-Based Practices

Evidence-Based Practices
ESSA encourages, and in select cases, requires, states and districts to implement "evidence-based" practices, activities, strategies, and interventions with demonstrated evidence of effectiveness. Evidence-based practices refer to interventions for which there is evidence of significant positive impact that can be found in published research papers, literature reviews, or DESE research briefs. Alternately, evidence-based practices can be those local practices that a district or state has previously instituted, measured, and found to be effective. Please visit the How Do We Know initiative for more information on evidence-based practices.

Eligibility:

A district is eligible to receive funds based on criteria established by the United States Department of Education (ED). District allocations are calculated by formula in the same proportion as to the districts' prior year's Title I, Part A allocation. Grants are awarded to local school districts after state review and approval of its application.

Funding Type:

Federal CFDA: 84.424

Federal grant funds must adhere to:

UGG (2 CFR 200)
EDGAR As Applicable
EDGAR General Fiscal Administration 34 CFR Part 76

Funding:

FY24 Fund Code 0309 Title IV, Part A District Allocations

This RFP is the governing document for these grant funds.

Funding is contingent upon availability. All dollar amounts listed are estimated/approximate and are subject to change. If more funding becomes available for allocations, it will be distributed under the same guideline that appear in this RFP document. Unclaimed funds will be redistributed to eligible districts via a competitive RFP.

Fund Use:

Funds may be used for a wide variety of activities* to support one or more of the Title IV, Part A priorities above, including but not limited to: direct services for students, professional development for staff, salaries for personnel to carry out programs and services, and supplemental educational resources and equipment.

Districts with an allocation of less than $30,000 must spend funds on one or more of the three Title IV, Part A Priorities (see top of Priorities section above).

Districts with an allocation of $30,000 or more must:

Conduct a comprehensive needs assessment that includes a focus on the Title IV, Part A priorities (see above). Note: Districts may fulfill (or may have already fulfilled) this requirement as part of the development of the districts' strategic plan, improvement plan, etc.
Spend at least 20% of the allocation on access to well-rounded educational opportunities
Spend at least 20% of the allocation on safe and healthy schools
Spend some amount on improving the use of technology
Spend the remainder on activities that support any/all of the three priorities

No more than 15 percent of funds used for activities to support the effective use of technology may be used "for purchasing technology infrastructure. (e.g., devices, equipment, software applications, platforms, digital instructional resources and/or other one-time IT purchases.) For example, a district with a $100,000 allocation that chooses to spend $60,000 on technology (maximum allowable), may only spend a maximum of $9,000 on technology infrastructure.

Project Duration:

Upon Approval* through 6/30/2024(Year 1)

The period of availability for this grant award can be extended 15 months beyond Year 1. The extended period is as follows: 7/1/2024 – 6/30/2025 (Year 2); 7/1/2025 – 9/30/2025 (Year 3).

*The grant start date cannot be prior to DESE receiving a substantially approvable application submission as directed in this RFPs Submission Instructions. Funds cannot exceed the project duration end date.

Program Unit:

Resource Allocation Strategy and Planning

Contact:

Federal Grant Programs

Phone Number:

(781) 338-6230

Date Due:

Tuesday, September 12, 2023

Required Forms:

FY24 Federal Grant Assurances — The FY24 Federal Grant Assurances Signature Page (Page 1 only) completed and signed by the Superintendent/Executive Director and uploaded in GEM$ in the LEA Document Library under Assurances, in folder Federal Entitlement Grant Assurances. We cannot approve any federal entitlement grant without a signed, properly dated and uploaded Federal Grant Assurance signature page.

Additional Information:

Note: Applicants may only legally claim expenses to the grant starting from the date of final DESE approval. The start date for the grant is the date on which the district submits substantially approvable budget and information for the grant. Therefore, to expedite approval, it is essential to have district staff that can be reached in July and August to respond to questions, as needed.

GEM$ Submission Instructions:

The FY2024 Fund Code 0309 Title IV, Part A: Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grant will be completed and submitted in our new Grants for Education Management System (GEM$). GEM$ is a cloud-based fiscal and program management grant system that will eventually phase out the use of EdGrants.

Last Updated: July 12, 2023