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Adult and Community Learning Services (ACLS)

FY2022 AEVS RFP, Fund Code 538 — Questions & Answers (Q & A)


Questions from the Bidders' Conference on December 17, 2021

Questions from aberfp@mass.gov email through January 3, 2022 follow those from Bidders Conference below.

Number of Funded Providers

Q.1. Will there only be one funded AEVS provider or will there be multiple funded providers?
A.1. There will be one provider awarded funding in response to the AEVS RFP.

Q.2. If only one provider, will they be responsible for ABE and ESOL?
A.2. A total of 50 ABE students at NRS level 5–6 are required to be enrolled per month. The RFP requires NRS ABE Level 5–6 students be served. The applicant is free to propose services in additional to the required ABE services.

Funding

Q.3. Is this funded for just one year or for multiple years?
A.3. The funding for this RFP begins upon approval through FY23 with the opportunity for refunding in FY24.

Q.4. If an agency were not ready to apply now, would there be an opportunity in following years?
A.4. The grantee who wins the bid will be the sole provider for the grant period under this RFP. If another RFP is posted anyone could apply.

Budget

Q.5. How much is available for this RFP?
A.5. The RFP states that up to $1,000,000 will be available to the grantee in FY22 and in FY23. Proposed Budgets are to be included for FY22 and FY23 in the required Budget Workbook.

Q.6. Would we apply for start-up funds through 6/30/22 plus FY23 funds for 12 months?
A.6. Yes. The Budget Workbook requires two budgets. One for the period of approval through June 30, 2022, and the other for FY23 (July 1, 2022 - June 30, 2023).

Q.7. Is there a match (budget) requirement for this RFP?
A.7. No match budget is required with this RFP.

Eligible Applicants

Q.8. Would a consortium be considered a sole applicant? Would the total number of students enrolled per month be 50 for a consortium?
A.8. Agencies may partner and must apply naming a lead agency (the funded provider). The minimum number of students served is 50 students per month at NRS level 5–6.

Student Eligibility

Q.9. Can you review the student eligibility requirements?
A.9. Eligible students are:
  1. at least 16 years of age; and
  2. not enrolled or required to be enrolled in secondary school under state law, and
  3. do not have a secondary school diploma or its recognized equivalent and do not have an equivalent level of education or are basic skills deficient or are English language learners.

Required Services

Q.10. Are the services ONLY for ABE Levels NRS 5 and 6?
A.10. The RFP requires ABE 5 and 6 students be served. Other ABE and ESOL students can be served but ESOL services are not required. The applicant is free to propose services in addition to the required ABE services.

Start of Services

Q.11. When do you expect the funded program to be up and running?
A.11. The time upon funding through June 30, 2022, can be used for initial start-up, marketing, recruitment, hiring, and any other allowable services. It is expected that instructional services begin as soon as possible and no later than September 2022.

Program Design and Students Served

Q.12. Do you expect cohort-based and/or live online classes of synchronous instruction?
A.12. ACLS expects synchronous instruction. Some class design may include asynchronous instruction in additional the synchronous instruction. The applicant should propose the service model that will offer the greatest flexibility and breadth of services to students.

Number of Students Served

Q.13. How many total seats do you expect to fund state-wide? How many for ABE? How many for ESOL?
A.13. The goal of this RFP is for the funded provider to serve as many eligible adults statewide as desire to participate. The grantee would need to be able to expand services to meet needs. A (minimum) total of 50 ABE students at NRS level 5–6 need to be enrolled per month. Additional enrollment numbers and services are to be proposed by the applicant.

Q.14. Do the 50 students to be served per month need to be at NRS level 5–6?
A.14. Yes. A (minimum) total of 50 ABE students at NRS level 5–6 need to be served per month. Additional enrollment numbers and services are to be proposed by the applicant.

Student Screening

Q.15. Are students pre-screened or is it also our responsibility to determine student eligibility?
A.15. It is the grantee's responsibility to screen for eligibility.

Hardware and Technology

Q.16. Does the provider need to provide technology or hardware to students? Or, is that part of the screening process? Can we write hardware costs into our proposal?
A.16. It is up to the applicant to propose a plan to address (or not address) hardware needs for students, but if the proposal includes hardware/technology distribution to students there must be equitable statewide access to distributed hardware. Hardware costs for students are an allowable budget cost.

Curriculum and Online Learning Tools

Q.17. Will ACLS be prescribing a specific online learning tool? Or, is the applicant able to determine that?
A.17. The LMS and any on-line learning tools are to be proposed by the applicant.

Q.18. Does the provider need to use learning material provided by ACLS?
A.18. It is expected that learning materials are aligned to the College and Career Readiness Standards for Adult Education (CCRSAE) and the Massachusetts English Language Proficiency Standards (MA ELPS). The materials used are to be determined by the applicant.

Staffing

Q.19. If the provider is currently funded [with CALC funding], would the director be able to attend to both programs without it being "double dipping"?
A.19. The total amount of funding for which one individual can be funded is one full time equivalent — 1FTE based on the agency's defined FTE hours.

Issuing Credentials

Q.20. Would the diplomas be issued through the Mass Department of Education? Or can they be issued through a private entity (our program currently issues private school diplomas)?
A.20. Yes. Any High School Equivalency (HSE) or diploma would need to be issued by MA ESE.

Partnerships and Collaborations

Q.21. Are there established partnerships with organizations across Massachusetts to help recruit students?
A.21. It is expected that the applicant will develop these partnerships and/or leverage existing collaborations.

Q.22. Is the provider able to work with schools and/or school counselors to be able to obtain information on potentially eligible students to target?
A.22. The provider is able to work with any organization to collaborate and do outreach to target populations. The Department may do its own marketing of adult education services including MassLinks as a part of program oversite.

Q.23. Is this considered a demonstration project?
A.23. Demonstrating positive outcomes then could lead to more funding and additional programming.

Branding

Q.24. Since the virtual school will be called "MassLinks" I assume that the system (platform /student account /correspondence…) needs to be white-label?
A.24. MassLinks should be noted on all platforms, accounts, and correspondence.

Impact of CALC Enrollments

Q.25. What policies will you have in place to lessen the adverse impact of the state-wide provider services on locally-based program enrollments?
A.25. The goal of this RFP is to provide remote instruction to students who are not currently being served or touching our current system. CALC programs continue to service in person and hybrid models of instruction.

Timeline and Submission Requirements

Q.26. What is the due date for the application?
A.26. The due date for the application is January 28, 2022, by 5:00 pm.

Q.27. Given the tight timing of this in conjunction with the holidays, is there any chance of moving the due date to February?
A.27. The deadline cannot be extended due to the planned awarding of funds in FY22 and the time needed to release those funds.

Q.28. Are résumés included in the fifty (50) page maximum?
A.28. No. The résumés (and all appendices) are not included in the fifty (50) page limit.

Access to Bidders' Conference Material

Q.29. Where and when will the material from the Bidders' Conference be available?
A.29. Material will be posted and updated here: Funding Opportunities

Q.30. Can you please review the slide about outreach?
A.30. The recording and slides are available at: Funding Opportunities though there was not a slide presented regarding outreach.

Questions Submitted after Bidders' Conference

Curriculum and Online Learning Tools

Q.31. The state has been supplying our AE students with Aztec seats and this enabled us to intensify our programming. Bristol Community College is planning to apply for AEVS funding and it is important to know if the state has plans to pick up the tab for Aztec seats on a statewide level in FY23. If not we will budget accordingly.
A.31. The AEVS provider is expected to include all costs for proposed services in their budget workbook. ACLS does not anticipate funding seats for products to the AEVS outside of the grant award.

Number of Funded Providers

Q.32. Will there only be one funded AEVS provider or will there be multiple funded providers?
A.32. There will be one provider awarded funding in response to the AEVS RFP.

Last Updated: January 5, 2022

 
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