FY2023: Charter School Significant Expansion Program

Fund Code: 532

Purpose:

The purpose of this federally funded Charter School Program (CSP) grant program is to provide significantly expanding¹ Commonwealth and Horace Mann charter schools with funds for the implementation of the charter schools' educational plans, academic goals and objectives, and for meeting expansion related costs.

Priorities:

In addition to baseline funding of $400,000, expanding charter schools are eligible for additional funding if they meet specific design priorities described below.

• Access and Equity: DESE will provide $175,000 additional CSP grant funding to schools that either:
  1. Commit to backfilling all vacancies through grade 10 in alignment with current backfilling procedures², or
  2. Adopt an explicit mission and educational program designed to:
     • Specifically serve English language learners, or
     • Specially serve students who are disconnected, over-age and under-credited, or off-track in their high school education;
  
  
• Immediate High Impact: DESE will provide $125,000 in additional CSP grant funding to those charter schools that quickly provide new, high-quality educational seats to communities by expanding with at least:
  1. 250 seats in the first year of operation for regular charter schools; or
  2. 100 seats in the first year of operation for alternative charter schools serving students who are disconnected, over-age and under-credited, and are off-track in their education preparing them for high school graduation.

Eligibility:

Significant Expansion Implementation: These funds are available to charter schools that have been granted an amendment in FY15 and beyond by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to significantly expand.

For FY23 one Massachusetts Charter School is eligible for the Significant Expansion Grant.

Funding Type:

Federal CFDA# 84.282

Funding:

Approximately $575,000 is available. Funding is contingent upon availability. All dollar amounts listed are estimated/approximate and are subject to change. If more funding becomes available it will be distributed under the same guidelines that appear in this RFP document. The specific grant award will be sent to the eligible charter school under a separate cover.

Fund Use:

All spending must be consistent with applicable state and federal regulations and guidelines. Schools are given discretion on how to spend their grant funds for implementation of their charter expansion as granted by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, as long as the requirements and monitoring benchmarks are met throughout the grant cycle. This grant must be used for actual expansion implementation costs and cannot be used for any type of construction or building improvements or to purchase food. More information on how the grant can be spent can be found in Part III — Required Program Information and in the CSP non-regulatory guidance.

Indirect costs may not be charged to this grant.

Project Duration:

Upon Approval – 9/30/2022

Program Unit:

Office of Charter Schools and School Redesign

Contact:

Joanna Laghetto

Phone Number:

(781) 338-3221

Date Due:

Friday, July 15, 2022

Required Forms:

• Part I — General — Program Unit Signature Page

• Part II Budget Detail and Justification

• Justification for additional flexibilities under ESSA (if applicable see Part IV below)

Additional Information:

• Part III — Required Program Information (Guidance)

• Part IV — Information and Instructions on applying for minor facility repairs, necessary renovations, and one time transportation cost.

Submission Instructions:

Submit all required grant materials through EdGrants

In EdGrants, districts are required to create and name the project. Please use the following naming convention for your "Applicant Project Name" in EdGrants:

FY23 532 Charter School Significant Expansion Program (Applicant Name)

All items listed under the required forms section of this RFP should be uploaded / attached in the Attachments List formlet of the Application Submission in EdGrants. This includes a signed / scanned PDF of Part I / Coversheet with Superintendent's signature as well as Schedule A form, if applicable to your district. The final budget the applicant is requesting will be entered directly into EdGrants as part of the application submission process.

For Guidance Documents regarding EdGrants, visit EdGrants: User Guides, Information and Trainings.

Please note: It is up to the district to determine who they want to add as EdGrants Front Office users in order to submit grant application as well as payment request information. Please review the EdGrants: User Security Controls to make informed decisions regarding assigning your district level users.

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¹ Significant expansion is defined as a school that has been granted an amendment by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education for (1) an increase in the student count of an existing charter school by more than 50 percent; or (2) an addition to an existing charter school of at least two consecutive grades; or (3) for an existing charter school with multiple campuses serving overlapping grades, meeting (1) or (2) for the campus with the largest enrollment.

² Currently, Massachusetts charter schools are only required to backfill half of the grades that they serve, and high schools are only required to backfill in grade 9.

Last Updated: June 22, 2022