Applicant Info and Eligibility
Previous Competition
To learn more about the previous competition, please visit the below link.
Eligibility
1. Eligible Applicants: States. In order to be eligible to receive a grant, a State shall establish or enhance, and administer, a per-pupil facilities aid program for charter schools in the State, that—
- Is specified in State law; and
- Provides annual financing, on a per-pupil basis, for charter school facilities.
Note: A State that is required under State law to provide charter schools with access to adequate facility space, but that does not have a per-pupil facilities aid program for charter schools specified in State law, is eligible to receive a grant if the State agrees to use the funds to develop a per-pupil facilities aid program consistent with the requirements in this notice inviting applications.
2.a. Cost Sharing or Matching: Under section 4304(k)(2)(C) of the ESEA, a State must provide a State share of the total cost of the project. The minimum State share of the total cost of the project increases each year of the grant, from 10 percent the first year to 80 percent in the fifth year.
Note: A State may partner with one or more organizations, and such organizations may provide up to 50 percent of the State share of the cost of establishing or enhancing, and administering, the per-pupil facilities aid program.
Applicants that are provisionally selected to receive grants will not receive grant funds unless they demonstrate, by September 1, 2019, that they are, or will be able to, provide the State share required under this program.
b. Supplement-Not-Supplant: This program involves supplement-not-supplant funding requirements. Under section 4110 of the ESEA (20 U.S.C. 7120), program funds must be used to supplement, and not supplant, State and local public funds expended to provide per-pupil facilities aid programs, operations financing programs, or other programs, for charter schools. Therefore, the Federal funds provided under this program, as well as the matching funds provided by the grantee, must be in addition to the State and local funds that would otherwise be used for this purpose in the absence of this Federal program. The Department generally considers that State and local funds would be available for this purpose at least in the amount of the funds that was available in the preceding year and that the Federal funds and matching funds under this program would supplement that amount.
3. Other: The charter schools that a grantee selects to benefit from this program must meet the definition of charter school in the CSP authorizing statute throughout the grant period. The definitions of charter school, per-pupil facilities aid programs, and authorized public chartering agency are in sections 4310(2), 4304(k)(1), and 4310(1) of the ESEA (20 U.S.C. 7221), and included in this notice.
