Grants and Other Financial Assistance Programs

FY2026: Targeted Assistance Grant (TAG)

Fund Codes: 0222 / 0325

Purpose:

The Center for School and District Partnership (CSDP) designed this targeted grant program is to support the implementation of needs identified in the district prioritization or similar process used to determine the district's highest priority for improvement. The activities the district selects will promote educational equity by providing supports that align with DESE's Educational Vision . For further guidance, many of our center's existing resources have been consolidated and updated into the Coherence Guidebook which is available to support schools and districts in their improvement efforts.

Districts will select activities that:

  • connect with the priority already identified in the district prioritization submission or similar process to identify improvement priorities;
  • advance equity and racial equity across schools
  • incorporate evidence-based strategies;
  • utilize a continuous cycle of improvement to implement and assess the outcomes of identified district priorities over time

This grant supports Massachusetts' goals for increasing student achievement by expanding school districts' capacity to support and educate students who have traditionally been marginalized.

Priorities:

Targeted Assistance Grant (TAG) funds are expected to support the development and implementation of district identified priorities. Examples of identified priorities that TAG funds can support are:

The TAG Grant Narrative and Fund Use Recommendations attachments provide additional details about the activities being supported by the grant.

Note: Recipients of TAG funding should expect to engage in assistance activities with Department staff from the Center for School and District Partnership (CSDP) and/or the Statewide System of Support (SSoS), and in DESE-sponsored progress monitoring efforts.

Eligibility:

District-Level Eligibility: Districts with one or more eligible schools will receive a TAG allocation. Eligible schools are those identified under the 2024 Massachusetts District and School Accountability System as in the bottom 10 percentiles, have a federal designation, or are identified as underperforming and supported by the Center for School and District Partnership (CSDP). Additional districts and schools may be eligible once 2025 accountability data is available.

Districts can use TAG funds to support all schools, however, as per state and federal funding requirements, schools that meet the criteria above should directly benefit from TAG funding. A list of these schools is provided for context in the district allocation document in the Additional Information section of this RFP.

The following schools are not eligible for TAG as they are eligible for other grant funding opportunities:

  • Schools in the Strategic Transformation region
  • Charter schools
  • Virtual schools
Funding Type:

Funding for the grant will come from federal and state funds:

  • Fund Code 0325: Federal Title I Section 1003 School Improvement Reservation funds CFDA 84.010

    Federal grant funds must adhere to:

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

  • Fund Code 0222: State Targeted Assistance Line Item 7061-9408

    The receipt of grant funds is contingent upon the grantee being able to certify that it will comply with the Massachusetts General Laws, including G.L. c. 40A, § 3A, the MBTA Communities Act. Compliance with the MBTA Communities Act is determined by the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities.

Funding:

Approximately $3,450,000 is available, with approximately $2,960,000 available through Federal Title I School Improvement funds (fund code 0325), and approximately $490,000 through State Targeted Assistance funds (fund code 0222) to be distributed among the eligible districts.

The Department will list on this grant posting, on a rolling basis, any additional schools and/or districts and their designated grant allocations and application due dates as they are determined, and as new needs emerge, and funds become available.

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 is to become available, it will be distributed under the same guidelines as listed in the initial RFP document.

Funding to individual districts will be approved only after programmatic and budgetary reviews by Department staff as noted above and upon review by the Office of the Governor.

Fund Use:

Allowable expenditures include district and school costs associated with:

  1. the implementation of key strategies described in the district prioritization submission
  2. the selection, training, implementation, and monitoring involved with delivering high-quality instructional materials to all students
  3. the social-emotional learning and mental health needs of students
  4. building capacity of instructional leadership teams
  5. advancing equity, including racial equity across schools
  6. strategic planning at the school and district level
  7. the promotion of a sense of belonging
  8. implementation of grade-appropriate instruction
  9. strategic planning and coherence
  10. interpreter training to better support connections to student and families

See the Fund Use Recommendations for Targeted Assistance Grants attachment in the Additional Information portion of this RFP for detailed examples of appropriate use of funds.

Unallowable Expenditures include:

  • Costs that supplant1 district allocations and expenditures to the school
  • Out of state travel
  • Contract buyouts
  • Capital expenses
  • Food or beverages
  • Pre-existing student transportation costs
  • Personal protective equipment

Fund use must be consistent with applicable state and/or federal requirements.

Funding used for such grants will conform to federal Title I Section 1003 School Improvement State Reservation requirements and/or to State Targeted Assistance funding requirements.

All expenditures will be closely reviewed as they relate to the priorities of this grant opportunity.

Project Duration:

Upon Approval (No Earlier than 7/1/2025)* – 6/30/2026

Note: Like last year, the pandemic era accommodation of moving funds to the summer will no longer apply. Please ensure funds are expended by 6/30/2026.

* The grant start date cannot be prior to DESE receiving a substantially approvable Application Submission as directed in this RFP's Submission Instructions. Goods and Services cannot be procured prior to Grants receiving and approving an application submission. Funds cannot exceed the project duration end date.

Program Unit:

Office of Effective Practices, Center for School and District Partnership

Contact:

School Turnaround Specialist
Michael Seymour
(781) 338-3514

Date Due:

Tuesday, September 30, 2025

Proposals with all the required attachments must be uploaded to GEM$ before 5:00 p.m.

Additional Information:
Submission Instructions:

Submit all required grant materials through the 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.

Please Note: Grant Submission requires applicants to have their organization established in GEM$. Entities that do not have an organization in GEM$ must contact the DESE Program Unit issuing this grant at a minimum 5 business days prior to the due date for temporary organization access.

Failure to provide DESE with GEMS Request Form at least 5 business days prior to the due date may result in not meeting the submission due date listed above. DESE cannot accept or review applications after the due date.


1 Refer to "Supplement, Not Supplant Quick Reference Guide" at General Resources for Federal Grant Programs

Last Updated: June 4, 2025

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