Check ups are important! They keep us on track. The middle of the school year is a good time to check up on your federal grants by conducting a mid-year review. How would I go about doing that you ask? CSS has an excellent training resource in our Mid-Year Federal Grants Review Online Course – … Read More
Title IV Special Collection Report Due March 17, 2023
Spring is quickly approaching, and it appears that our baskets will be full of reporting. Today’s topic is a new report that TEA’s is requiring everyone that receives Title IV ESSA funding to submit. Even if your charter district transfers 100% of its Title IV funds to Title I, action will be required by March … Read More
School Safety Standards Grant Due Feb 17, 2023
The State has put serious ($400 million) money where its mouth is when it comes to the safety and security of public-school facilities. In the unfortunate wake of school violence, we must ask ourselves if our facilities have all necessary barriers and are able to protect our students against intruders. In 2022-23, you will be … Read More
Basics of State Compensatory Education Funds
Very likely, your charter is receiving a special allocation of state funds to assist with the educational needs of your students who qualify as At-Risk based on state-defined criteria. Like most the other special state allotments, these funds come with special guidelines and requirements. HB 3 in the 2019 legislature changed the formula for allocation … Read More
Silent Panic Alert Technology (SPAT) Grant – Due Dec 12, 2022
Your school may have previously benefitted from the School Safety and Security grant that the State issued in an effort to prevent school violence. More safety funding is being made available with the SPAT Grant being due in the very near future. The SPAT grant is to purchase silent alert technology, and to be honest, … Read More
LASO Grant – Learning Acceleration Support Opportunities
Ready to “round up” some new funding? The latest release of post-COVID funding is called LASO (aka TCLAS II), and CSS is here to be your partner as we wrestle up all the dirt on this new grant that is due December 22, 2022. Preliminary training for LASO has already happened in October (don’t worry, … Read More
ESSA Basic Program Requirements: Fiscal and Program
Federal funds don’t just provide money to your schools. They create programs. By focusing on solid programs, you can add to your school’s repertoire and improve your ability to serve students. But programs funded by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) are regulated by many rules that can seem confusing at times. As a savvy … Read More
Maintenance of Equity Requirement Due Dec 9, 2022
Many small charter schools are exempt from the Maintenance of Equity requirement; however, if you have multiple campuses with duplicate grade spans, your LEA will not be exempt. The MOEquity requirement is part of compliance for receiving ARP funds: ESSER III, ESSER Supplemental, or TCLAS. The purpose of checking for MOEquity is to ensure that … Read More
2022-23 Title I School Improvement Grant
The 2022-23 Title I School Improvement Grant opened in eGrants on 9/13/22, and it is due by 5:00 PM November 10, 2022. Pre-award costs are allowed from 8/1/22 to the submission date of the grant. Another important deadline is the compliance report for last year’s 2021-22 Title I SI Grant. The compliance report for last … Read More
Title I School Improvement Grant and Comprehensive Ratings
With the release of the A-F Accountability ratings on 8/15, also came the federal list of schools in need of improvement. Although the state did not officially label LEAs with a D or F, new federal “comprehensive” labels were released, and intervention requirements are starting now! How do I find my federal ratings? To see … Read More