Adult and Community Learning Services (ACLS)

FY19 Funding Instructions for EdGrants

June 19, 2018

Dear Program Directors,

The purpose of this communication is to provide further information and guidance to help you finalize your FY19 grants.

EdGrants is not prepared to receive ACLS grants. However, grantees should prepare all final documents for submission as soon as the system is ready, consulting, as needed, with the ACLS staff with whom they conducted grant negotiations. We will notify you as soon as EdGrants is ready to process your grants. ACLS will extend the submission deadline as needed and will ensure that state funds will be available for a July 1 start date regardless of whether they are entered into EdGrants by June 30.

ACLS has attached and posted a revised class plan and budget workbook. If you downloaded and completed the previous version and fixed the match narrative error, you do not have to copy the information into the new version.

Here is additional information about completing the grant process:

1. Grantees must revise class plans and budgets to reflect the number of ABE and ESOL funded seats described in the award letter. Then email the completed class plan and budget workbook(s) to the ACLS staff person. Once you have received pre-approval, proceed to step two.
2. If your grant has only one fund code:
   • "Register" the grant award in EdGrants;
   • "Attach" the approved class plan and budget workbook, signature page, Statement of Assurances, GEPA Statement, and Schedule B. These forms are located at FY19 Funding Instructions.
3. If your award is supported by multiple fund codes (e.g. 345, 359, 285, etc.), you must:
   • Complete steps 2 and 3 for each fund code (e.g. if your grant is supported with 345 and 359, you will submit one class plan and budget workbook for fund code 345 and another for 359);
   • Provide a match budget narrative for each.

Budget narratives must provide sufficient detail about all items. For example, for instructors, it is important to provide the number of planned teaching, preparation, and professional development hours; for supplies, explain the purpose and use.

Outstationing funds are to be clearly identified within the CALC budget narrative. Because these funds do not contribute to the cost per student, budgets that include outstationing will indicate in the CALC Summary Sheet a negative variance (e.g. -$15,000) of the exact amount awarded to provide outstationing.

If you were awarded IET and IELCE funding, you must complete separate class plans, budget narratives and match narratives within the workbook for that fund code. These narratives must clearly identify the funds that will be used to support the technical training activities. Training expenses are:

• Workforce/technical training instruction (line 2 and/or line 6) and related fringe (line 5)
• Workforce/technical training supplies (e.g. rubber gloves, raw materials, scrubs, tape measures) (line 7)
• Other costs (line 9) include: space used for technical training (e.g. clinical areas, shops, labs), insurance, equipment maintenance, subscriptions (e.g. MasterCAM, TollU-Online)

In EdGrants, specify training dollars by selecting IET/IELCE training in "Select a Primary Function" (dropdown list) for the expenses identified in your narrative. Detailed EdGrants resources can be found at FY19 Funding Instructions.

Grantees must complete separate budgets for each CALC, IET, and IELCE subcontractor on one of the four subcontractor tabs provided. Then enter total requested funds for each subcontractor on line 6 of the appropriate budget narrative.

As noted above, please email completed class plan and budget workbooks to the ACLS staff person identified in your award letter for pre-approval. After your workbook is pre-approved, you will submit the budget and other required documents in EdGrants.

The DESE Grants Management unit has scheduled an EdGrants webinar specifically for ACLS grantees on June 22 at 10:00 AM. You can register at AE EdGrants New Users / Refresher for Grant Application Submission. In addition, ACLS has developed an EdGrants checklist to guide you through the submission process.

Finally, DESE and EOE are finalizing the contract with the new data system vendor. We look forward to providing the transition timeline, training information, and instructions about collecting summer data.

Sincerely,

Jolanta Conway
MA Adult Education State Director