The purpose of this targeted grant program is to fund specific initiatives with evidence-based strategies to turn around the state's lowest performing schools and districts and increase their capacity to sustain a continuous cycle of improvement. This grant is open to districts and schools in the Strategic Transformation Region.
Priority will be given to districts and schools in the Strategic Transformation Region.
This grant is intended to support the strategies and priority areas identified in the district's or school's chronically underperforming or underperforming turnaround plan. These turnaround plans describe evidence-based practices that are associated with rapid academic student achievement, including those that innovate on: school culture and climate, school autonomies and flexibilities, collaborative leadership, resource management, instructional rigor, cultural competency and dismantling systemic racism, social emotional learning, community partnerships, family engagement, and tiered systems of support.
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.
The grant amount for each currently eligible recipient (Due: June 5, 2026) is listed below.
Please see below in the Additional Information section for a list of schools in each eligible district.
Fund Code 0220: State Targeted Intervention Line Item: 7061-9408
Approximately $490,000 is available.
Funding for the grant will come from state funds as described above. The total allocation per grant will be determined by financial needs articulated by: eligible schools/districts in meetings and other communication with the Department, spending plans drawn up by the Department projecting financial needs of known chronically underperforming schools and districts and other identified schools within the Strategic Transformation Region, and input from the Commissioner, the State Board of Education, and other Department staff in the District and School Assistance Unit.
This RFP is the governing document for these grant funds.
Funding is contingent upon availability. All dollar amounts listed are estimated/approximate and are subject to change. If more funding becomes available it will be distributed under the same guidelines that appear in this RFP document.
Fund use must be consistent with State Targeted Intervention funding requirements for Fund Code 0220. Districts are allowed to budget funds at both the district level and school level.
Upon Approval* – 6/30/2027
*Grant start date cannot be prior to DESE receiving a substantially approvable Application Submission as directed in this RFP's Submission Instructions. Goods and Services cannot be procured prior to DESE receiving and approving an application submission. Funds cannot exceed the project duration end date. The Grant Award Notice (GAN) issued in GEM$ is the official award notice for grant funds.
District and School Assistance Unit
Jennifer Wu, Manager of District and School Turnaround, Systems for Student Success Office
(781) 870-0734
Friday, June 5, 2026 by 5:00 PM
Proposals must be received at the Department by 5:00 p.m. Eastern on the date due.
ESSA encourages, and in select cases requires, states and districts to implement "evidence-based" practices, activities, strategies, and interventions with demonstrated evidence of effectiveness. Evidence-based practices refer to interventions for which there is evidence of significant positive impact that can be found in published research papers, literature reviews, or DESE research briefs. Alternately, evidence-based practices can be those local practices that a district or state has previously instituted, measured, and found to be effective. Please visit the How Do We Know initiative for more information on evidence-based practices. Additional guidance from the U.S. Department of Education regarding evidence can be found at Non-Regulatory Guidance: Using Evidence to Strengthen Education Investments . More information can be found on DESE's How Do We Know Initiative and ESSA Evidence Quick Reference Guide .
These grants must demonstrate connections to DESE's District Standards and Indicators and/or DESE's School Level Standards and Indicators in their proposed uses of funds. When describing connections to the standards and indicators at either the district or school levels, the applicant may wish to refer to more specific guidance on effective practices issued by the Department, including but not limited to the following resources: IMplement MA, Massachusetts Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS), MA Blueprint for English Learner Success, Massachusetts Family, School, and Community Partnership Fundamentals , Massachusetts Standards for Professional Development, MA Guide to Building Supportive Talent Systems for Educators, and the Massachusetts Safe and Supportive Schools Framework .
Since the proposed uses of funds in this targeted grant program support the school's or district's existing turnaround process, the school/district is not asked to set additional outcome measures for this work. The district's measures under the state's accountability and assistance system and Measurable Annual Goals (MAGs) and turnaround plan annual benchmarks, if applicable, will serve as outcome measures for these initiatives as well.
Applicants may only legally claim expenses to the grant starting from the date of final DESE approval. The start date for the grant is the date on which the district submits substantially approvable budget and information for the grant.
List of Schools in Eligible Districts
Applying schools/districts must describe the rationale for their budget items and their intended outcomes in their Workbooks. To support effective planning and the strategic use of grant funds, DESE requires that eligible schools and districts explain how the strategic initiatives funded through this grant program connect to the implementation of the district's and/or school's turnaround plan. These funds should be aligned with other district funds focused on school turnaround efforts.
The FY27 FC0220 Support to Schools and Districts in the Strategic Transformation Region will be submitted in our new GEM$ system. GEM$ is a cloud-based fiscal and program management grant system that will eventually phase out the use of EdGrants.
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: May 22, 2026