FY2026: Workplace Education Phase II Grant

Fund Code: 0495

Purpose:

Workforce Education Implementation Grants (Phase 2) are grants designed for partnerships among education providers, business partners, and unions (where the workforce is unionized) to implement an instructional program for adult incumbent workers.

Priorities:

Priorities are to support applicants that demonstrate:

• A need for ABE and/or ESOL services

• A commitment from each stakeholder in the partnership

• Readiness of the partnership to continue to develop, implement and evaluate a multi-year workplace education program through oversight and guidance from a Planning and Evaluation Team (PET)

• Strategies for student class participation and retention, e.g., release time, paid stipends, remote and/or asynchronous learning, or additional measures to support student participation for attendance and retention

Eligibility:

Eligible applicants are those that were awarded a Phase 2 grant in FY2025.

Funding Type:

Federal CFDA: 84.002
Federal grant funds must adhere to:

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

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 up to $60,000 per funded program

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 becomes available, it will be distributed under the same guidelines that appear in this RFP document.

Fund Use:

Funding must be used to:

• Deliver classroom and/or remote instruction in keeping with the approved program plan
• Develop and document contextualized curriculum
• Convene and maintain an ongoing and active Planning and Evaluation team (PET) that represents each interest group, e.g., management, supervisors, education staff, and union (where the workforce is unionized)
• Implement NRS-required assessments
• Develop and implement formative assessments
• Maintain class enrollment retention
• Collect and input student data into LACES, the statewide data management system.

For Phase 2, not less than 95 percent of funds must be spent on adult education direct services and literacy activities; as a result, not more than five percent of the funds may be spent on administrative costs. AEFLA defines administrative costs as allowable costs related to planning, administration (including carrying out performance accountability requirements), professional development, providing AE and literacy services in alignment with local workforce plans, carrying out one-stop partner responsibilities, and state approved IDC charged to the grant. (Note: Approved IDC is part of the grantee's administrative cost.)

AEFLA Sec. 233 states that professional development expenses are administrative expenses and part of the five percent limit. DESE has further defined administrative professional development expenses to include non-SABES registration fees and travel expenses including out of state travel. SABES trainings and the annual MCAE Network conference are defined by DESE as instructional expenses.

Grantees may negotiate with DESE on an individual basis to determine an adequate level of funds for non-instructional purposes by submitting a written request and rationale with their annual continuation applications. DESE will not grant administrative cost requests that exceed 25 percent of grant funds. Grantees must keep in mind that charges for IDC are included in the program's administrative costs.

Programs may negotiate a higher administrative cost percentage through a written request and rationale within GEM$.

Adult Education Services are restricted rate programs that are subject to a statutory "supplement, not supplant" restriction. Grantees are required to use a restricted indirect cost rate of 8% unless your calculated indirect cost rate is less than 8%. If the calculated indirect cost rate is less than 8%, you must use the lower rate for your budget. If you have an approved negotiated federal indirect cost rate, it must be submitted to ESE. If you do not have an approved indirect cost rate agreement, you must apply annually to ESE for an approved indirect cost rate. The indirect cost rate is calculated using costs specified in the grantee's indirect cost plan. Those specified costs may not be charged as direct costs to the grant or to any other grant under any circumstances.

Applicants are required to provide an auditable matching share of 20% of the total amount of the requested grant award.

Project Duration:

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

* Grant start date cannot be prior to DESE receiving a substantially approvable Application Submission as directed in this RFP's Submission Instructions. Procurement of goods and services is not permitted until the application has been received and approved by DESE's Grants Management Office. Additionally, all expenditures must fall within the approved project duration and cannot extend beyond the project end date.

Program Unit:

Adult and Community Learning Services (ACLS)

Contact:

Wayne Yee

Phone Number:

(781) 338-3838

Date Due:

Monday June 30, 2025

Proposals must be submitted into GEM$ by 5 p.m. Eastern on the date due.

GEM$ submission at the LEA Fiscal Representative Approved level must be done by July 1, 2025 for a July 1, 2025 start date.

Required Forms:

All sections in GEM$ must be completed, including:

• MOA for Phase 2 Implementation, to be uploaded onto GEM$

Additional Information:

• Massachusetts Guidelines for Effective Workplace Education Partnerships

• Massachusetts Professional Standards for Teachers of Adult English Speakers of Other Languages

• Massachusetts English Language Proficiency Standards for Adult Education

• College and Career Readiness Standards for Adult Education

• Massachusetts Indicators of Program Quality for Workplace Education

• Workplace Education Recommended Readings

Submission Instructions:

The FY26 0495 Workplace Education Phase II Grant will be submitted in GEM$. GEM$ is a cloud-based fiscal and program management grant system.

Grants for Education Management System (GEM$)

Please Note: Grant Submission at the LEA level requires roles to be established for Grant writer for the specific fund code, LEA fiscal for financial review/approval, and Superintendent/Chief Executive sign off. All these roles should be established prior to the grant due date and all appropriate forms should be either uploaded to GEM$, maintained at the LEA level or sent in to the DESE RFP contact as described on the individual forms. The user guidance documents and forms are found on the GEM$ homepage under DESE Resources. These forms can be accessed without logging in to the system.

Last Updated: June 11, 2025