FAQs
General Information
1. What does LEA stand for?
LEA is an acronym for Local Education Agency. This is a reference to your local school district.
Eligibility
2. How do we know if our building is eligible for this funding?
The eligibility list has been posted on the eTech Ohio website on the ARRA Title II-D Competitive Grant webpage and also on the ODE CCIP page (in the documents library for the ARRA Title II-D competitive grants project). Only those schools listed on the eligibility list may apply for this grant funding.
3. One of our schools was awarded an EETT grant three years ago. When I saw that Priority will be given to those buildings that have not already participated in the Ohio EETT grant." statement in the RFP, I wondered what it meant?
All schools that are on the eligibility list have a chance to receive the grant. However, during the scoring process (the FACET program) an indicator for current or former EETT recipients will be added into the process.
Application Process
4. What do I have to submit in order to apply for a grant?
There are several steps. The deadline for the first two steps is May 15, 2009, 5:00 PM (EST). If you do not meet this deadline, you cannot continue with the application process. The deadline for the other steps is June 12, 5:00 PM.
- Step One: An eligible building must send a Letter of Intent (Appendix A) to the eTech Ohio office. It must be received at the eTech Ohio office by 5:00 PM (EST) on May 15, 2009.
- Step Two: An applicant must also complete a Statement of Interest form online. To submit your Statement of Interest form, go to http://recovery.ohio.gov/. Click on Submit Your Proposal. Read #2, Program funds to be distributed by the State of Ohio, and then click on Submit a Project in the right-hand column. The deadline for submission is May 15, 2009, 5:00 P.M. EST. For details, see Revised RFP 05.01.09/page 16: Application Requirements/ Statement of Interest form and page 27/ Appendix J. The dates and specifics are outlined in the RFP, which is located at http://www.etech.ohio.gov/go/arra.
- Step Three: The Commitment and Support Signature Page and Federal Assurances Page (with original signatures must be received by eTech Ohio by the deadline. In addition, the application for the ARRA Title II D Competitive Grant must be submitted through ODE's Comprehensive Continuous Improvement Plan (CCIP) funding application. Three components need to be completed in the CCIP for a complete application submission: Budget Grid, Application (Narratives) and Plan Relationships. No exceptions shall be made to grant deadlines. The deadline for these is June 12, 2009, 5:00 PM (EST).
5. Could you explain the Federal Assurances Form and what the expectation is for contacting private, nonprofit schools?
Federal Assurances Form
The ARRA Title II-D competitive grant requires the equitable participation of private, nonprofit school students and teachers. Eligible school buildings are required to consult with private, nonprofit school officials during the design and development of programs and this consultation is to take place before any decision is made that affects the opportunities of eligible private, nonprofit school students and teachers.
- Eligible private, nonprofit schools are those schools that service the same population of students that attend an eligible ARRA Title II-D competitive grant school.
- An eligible school building needs only to consult with one private, nonprofit school in their area of service.
- If there are multiple eligible school buildings in a district, each building must consult with a different private, nonprofit school in their area of service.
- Should an eligible school not have a private, nonprofit school in their area of service, the eligible school may submit their Federal Assurances Form (Appendix B) with an N/A.
- Community Schools are not required to complete the Federal Assurances Form (Appendix B). They may submit their Federal Assurances Form with an N/A.
6. When we go to the FY10 CCIP competitive link for ARRA Title II-D, there is no link to access the actual application. Is this something that will be added or is there some other process we need to complete?
The application for the grant is in the Funding Applications section (FY 2010) within the CCIP (https://ccip.ode.state.oh.us/ccip). You will need access to enter data into the CCIP to start and complete the application process.
If you have access:
• Login into the CCIP
• Select Funding (from blue menu on side)
• Select FY 2010
• Select ARRA Title II-D (Competitive) at bottom of page
• Under ARRA Title II-D (Competitive) section - click on the pull down box and click on the Create Application link (if you do not see this link, you do not have access to enter data and will need someone else to initiate the application)
• After clicking on Create Application link, select from the pull down box which school will be submitting an application
• Fill in all sections under the ARRA Title II-D (Competitive)
If you do not have access, contact the district Treasurer to verify privileges.
Allocations
7. I have logged onto the CCIP however the allocations are not listed for my school building. Can you tell me where to locate the allocations?
The total amount allocated for each eligible school building is $246,793.47. However, the amount that will be available for Phase One is $101,700. This will be the maximum amount that applicants can budget for in the application. (This amount includes enough allocation to meet the federal requirement of 25% for professional development for both Phase One and Phase Two.) You will create another budget for Phase Two when doing your Action Plan. If you budget the full $101,700 in Phase One , the amount not used in the 2009-2010 school year, will roll over into the following year.
(See the RFP under Funding Requirements, Local Use of Funds, State Requirements for Phase One and you may also refer to the sample budget in Appendix H.)
Coach
8. If a district has two buildings who are awarded the grant, can they use one person to serve as the 2 half time coaches needed for the two awarded grants?
Yes. The .5 FTE Technology Integration Coach must provide 20 hours/week for each of the 4-teacher team in a building.
9. Could a teacher from our building serve as the .5 FTE Technology Integration Coach? Would this be considered supplanting?
Yes. The goal of the grant is to develop the capacity of educators in the school buildings to integrate technology effectively into the classroom. So we strongly recommend selecting someone within the eligible building who is familiar with the culture of the school district/building to serve as the Technology Integration Coach. It would not be considered ‘supplant' if you hire a teacher as the .5 FTE (20 hours/week) Technology Integration Coach with the grant funds as that role did not exist previously. However, your district would still cover the cost of that teacher's .5 FTE position as a teacher and would probably need to hire and pay for another half time teacher.
Budget
10. Does the $10,000 per year maximum apply to the hiring an out-of- district consultant to serve as the .5 FTE (20 hours /week) technology integration coach to fulfill the requirement of the grant?
No. The coach is required for the grant, therefore, the $10,000 maximum does not apply.
11. Do we have to budget $18,000 for the state-sponsored professional development.
Yes. The teams of teachers, coach and the administrator will be participating in state-sponsored throughout the two years. The building must budget to pay $18,000 once the first grant disbursement is made to the school.
12. It says in the grant when certain monies are to be spent for phase 1/2. It does not give permission to buy any hardware until phase 2, if I'm understanding correctly. But if we are to spend the first year in professional development about the technology we will be using, why can't we buy it until after all the professional development (PD) is completed?
The focus of Phase I is the intensive state-sponsored professional development on teaching and learning not the equipment. During Phase I, teachers can purchase laptops, MP3 players and a projector (if they do not have these items), and the technology integration coach can purchase a laptop and MP3 player if needed. There will be no need to purchase additional equipment until after the building teams have learned more about 21st century learning environments. We believe the teams will have a better understanding of what equipment to purchase to meet their needs after going through the PD.