Race to the Top (RTTT)

Important Update on Use of FY09 Stabilization Grants

The US Dept of Education has informed us that FY09 stabilization grants can only be used for fourth quarter expenses (i.e., expenses accrued between April 1 and June 30). Most districts have already submitted grant applications using only fourth quarter expenses, so this has no effect on those districts. However, if your grant application assumed the use of some third quarter expenditures, you will need to identify additional fourth quarter expenses for your year-end journal entry. If you are able to identify the new expenses within the next few days, please go ahead and submit a revised application form, and we'll substitute that for your original. If you need additional time to identify the new expenses, we will go ahead and process your previously submitted grant application, so that the payment is made to your municipality or district by June 30. You can then reflect the updated expense breakdown when you submit your final grant financial report over the summer.

Because of this change, some of you may need to include salary expenses in your grant spending. As we have discussed at our various meetings and teleconferences, under current state law all salary expenses paid through federal grants are subject to the 9% pension chargeback. We are having discussions with the Legislature on whether they might enact an exemption to the chargeback requirement for the SFSF grants, and we will obviously let you know if they take that action.

If you need any further information, please contact Rob O'Donnell (781-338-3116), Jay Sullivan (781-338-6594), or Jeff Wulfson (781-338-6500). Thanks for your continued patience as we work through these difficult circumstances.