- Administrative: What is the deadline date for this competition?
- Administrative: May I get an extension of the deadline date?
- Administrative: Do I have to submit my application electronically?
- Administrative: How do I submit my application electronically?
- Administrative: What information do I enter in box 4 Applicant Identifier, box 5a Federal Entity Identifier, and box 5b Federal Award Identifier on the SF-424 form?
- Administrative: How does the Freedom of Information Act affect my application?
- Administrative: For my GEPA 427 statement is it adequate to state that our organization does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, sex, etc.?
- Administrative: What is required from an applicant whose State Single Point of Contact indicates that they are not reviewing applications for this grant competition?
- Administrative: By what date do applicants have to submit their application to their State Single Point of Contact, if participating?
- Admnistrative: What steps should the applicant’s Authorized Representative take before signing a grant application?
- Admnistrative: 11. What should I include in the “Table of Contents”?
- Eligibility: Who is eligible to apply?
- Eligibility: Are colleges or universities eligible to apply for this grant?
- Eligibility: Must an SEA assist only high-need LEAs to be eligible to receive a grant?
- Eligibility: Must an application list the specific high-need LEAs that an SEA plans to include in the project?
- Eligibility: In order to determine whether an LEA is a high-need LEA as defined in the NIA, what sources of data may be used to determine an LEA’s poverty rate?
- Priorities: What priority must all applicants address to be eligible for funding?
- Priorities: Are applicants required to address the competitive preference priority?
- Priorities: If we decide to apply for the competitive preference priority, are we required to state our intention to do so in the abstract section of the application?
- Priorities: Where should we provide supporting information to address the competitive preference priority for purposes of earning competitive preference priority points?
- Requirements: What Assurances and Certifications are required?
- Requirements: What are the Project Performance Measures for this program?
- Requirements: What technical assistance is available for grantees?
- Application Review: How will applications be reviewed?
- Application Review: Will an applicant receive its scores and reviewer comments after the competitions are completed?
- Application Review: Will the reviewers be asked to read every part of each application?
- Budget: Is there a maximum award amount for this competition?
- Budget: Are these grants subject to Supplement, Not Supplant provisions?
- Budget: What is an indirect cost?
- Budget: Does this program use a restricted or unrestricted indirect cost rate?
- Budget: If an applicant intends to charge indirect costs to the grant, what documentation should it submit with its application?
- Budget: If a grantee fails to propose indirect costs in the budget section of the application, may it charge indirect costs to the grant once awarded?
- Budget: If, at the time it receives a grant award, a grantee does not have an approved indirect cost agreement, may it still charge indirect costs to the grant?
- Budget: Are there guidelines for how much money can be spent on consultants?
- Budget: What are the funding restrictions?
- Budget: When direct costs include equipment and large contracts, how are these costs treated in the calculation of a grantee’s indirect costs?
- Budget: Are applicants required to secure cost sharing or matching funds?
- Budget: When an applicant commits non-Federal funds to the proposed project, does this create a legal obligation to fulfill the commitment?
- Budget: What is the project and budget period for these grants?
- Budget: What should I use as the project start date?
- Budget: Must a grantee wait until the start of the initial budget period to begin incurring costs that grant funds will reimburse?
- Budget: Can applicants budget for “training stipend” costs on ED Form 524?
- Budget: What should be included in the budget narrative?
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1. Administrative: What is the deadline date for this competition?
The deadline for this competition is August 27, 2018.
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2. Administrative: May I get an extension of the deadline date?
Waivers for individual applications failing to meet the deadline will not be granted, regardless of the circumstances. Under very extraordinary circumstances the Department may change the closing date for a grant competition. When this occurs, the Department announces such a change in a notice published in the Federal Register.
If you are prevented from electronically submitting your application on the application deadline date because of technical problems with the Grants.gov system, we will grant you an extension until 4:30:00 p.m., Washington, DC time, the following business day to enable you to transmit your application electronically or by hand delivery. You also may mail your application by following the mailing instructions described in the NIA.
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3. Administrative: Do I have to submit my application electronically?
Yes. Unless you qualify for an exception in accordance with the instructions found in the Notice Inviting Applications (NIA), you must submit your application electronically.
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4. Administrative: How do I submit my application electronically?
For more information on using Grants.gov, please refer to the “Common Instructions for Applicants to Department of Education Discretionary Grant Programs” published in the Federal Register on February 12, 2018 and available at https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2018-02558; the Grants.gov “Submission Procedures and Tips” document found in this application package; and/or visit www.grants.gov.
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5. Administrative: What information do I enter in box 4 Applicant Identifier, box 5a Federal Entity Identifier, and box 5b Federal Award Identifier on the SF-424 form?
These boxes are not applicable for this competition. Please leave boxes 4, 5a, and 5b blank. You may input “NA” in each box, but be sure not to include a slash (i.e., “N/A”), the system will not allow you to input special characters.
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6. Administrative: How does the Freedom of Information Act affect my application?
The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) provides that any person has the right to request access to federal agency records or information. All U.S. Government agencies are required to disclose records upon receiving a written request for them, except for those records that are protected from disclosure by the nine exemptions listed in the FOIA. All applications submitted for funding consideration under this grant competition are subject to the FOIA. To read the text of the Freedom of Information Act, visit http://www.ed.govhttps://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/leg/foia/foiatoc.html.
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7. Administrative: For my GEPA 427 statement is it adequate to state that our organization does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, sex, etc.?
No. An organization’s non-discrimination statement is not sufficient to meet the GEPA requirements. A GEPA statement should outline an entity’s potential barriers and solutions to equal access, specific to the proposed project.
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8. Administrative: What is required from an applicant whose State Single Point of Contact indicates that they are not reviewing applications for this grant competition?
Applicants should include a copy of such a response from the State Single Point of Contact in their application package submitted to ED and check the appropriate line on the SF 424 form.
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9. Administrative: By what date do applicants have to submit their application to their State Single Point of Contact, if participating?
Applicants must submit their application to the State Single Point of Contact by the deadline date for transmitting their application to ED.
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10. Admnistrative: What steps should the applicant’s Authorized Representative take before signing a grant application?
The standard form that serves as a cover sheet for grant applications includes a certification statement that accompanies the authorized representative’s signature. That certification indicates that the information provided in the grant application is true and complete to the best of the authorized representative’s knowledge, and that any false, fictitious, or fraudulent statements or claims may subject the authorized representative to administrative, civil, or criminal penalties. As a result, an authorized representative should carefully review a grant application before signing in order to be sure that all of the information contained in the application package is correct. Additionally, an authorized representative should be sure that the application describes a project that has the organization’s support and reflects an approach that the organization is committed to implementing.
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11. Admnistrative: 11. What should I include in the “Table of Contents”?
The Table of Contents shows where and how the important sections of your proposal are organized and should not exceed one double spaced page. The application package shows the “Table of Contents” falling within the “Project Narrative,” but the “Table of Contents” should be comprehensive, covering all application content.
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12. Eligibility: Who is eligible to apply?
Eligible applicants are State Educational Agencies (SEAs), as defined by section 9101(41) of the ESEA.
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13. Eligibility: Are colleges or universities eligible to apply for this grant?
No. Colleges and universities are not considered SEAs and thus are not eligible for this grant. Only entities that meet the definition of an SEA may receive funding under this program.
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14. Eligibility: Must an SEA assist only high-need LEAs to be eligible to receive a grant?
No. Multi-tiered behavioral frameworks are intended to support teaching and learning for all children and youth in all schools. However applicants must describe how the proposed project will address the needs of high-need LEAs (as defined), including those with high-poverty schools (as defined), low-performing schools (including persistently lowest-achieving schools (both as defined)), and priority schools (as defined).
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15. Eligibility: Must an application list the specific high-need LEAs that an SEA plans to include in the project?
No. Applicants are not required to identify specific high-need LEAs or the process to identify them in the application project narrative; however, while not required, doing so may strengthen the application. The application should include an estimated number of high-need LEAs that will be assisted. Consistent with Application Requirement (c), the application must describe how the proposed project will address the needs of high-need LEAs, as defined in the NIA.
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16. Eligibility: In order to determine whether an LEA is a high-need LEA as defined in the NIA, what sources of data may be used to determine an LEA’s poverty rate?
Consistent with the definition of “poverty line” in section 9101(33) of the ESEA, census data is the appropriate measure to use to determine an LEA’s poverty rate. https://www.census.gov/topics/income-poverty/poverty/guidance/poverty-measures.html
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17. Priorities: What priority must all applicants address to be eligible for funding?
All applications must address the absolute priority as written: Grants to State Educational Agencies (SEAs) to Implement Statewide Systems of Support for Multi-Tiered Behavioral Frameworks to Improve School Climate. Under this priority, we provide grants to SEAs to develop, enhance, or expand systems of support for, and provide technical assistance to, LEAs implementing a multi-tiered behavioral framework to improve school climate and behavioral outcomes for all students.
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18. Priorities: Are applicants required to address the competitive preference priority?
No. Applicants are not required to address the competitive preference priority, but may earn competitive preference points by designing grant programs that meet the expectations defined in the competitive preference priority language.
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19. Priorities: If we decide to apply for the competitive preference priority, are we required to state our intention to do so in the abstract section of the application?
Yes. In order to be eligible for earning competitive preference priority points, an applicant must state in the abstract section of its application that it is seeking points under the competitive preference priority, and we encourage you to specifically identify your response to the competitive preference priority to assist reviewers. Applications that fail to clearly state in the abstract section that they are seeking to earn points under the competitive preference will not be reviewed against the competitive preference priority and will not be awarded competitive preference priority points.
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20. Priorities: Where should we provide supporting information to address the competitive preference priority for purposes of earning competitive preference priority points?
You should discuss in more detail how you will be addressing the competitive preference priority as part of the overall proposed project goals and objectives in the application narrative.
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21. Requirements: What Assurances and Certifications are required?
Be certain to complete all required assurances and certifications in Grants.gov, and include all required information in the appropriate place on each form. The assurances and certifications required for this application are:
- Assurances for Non-Construction Programs (SF 424B Form)
- Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (SF LLL Form)
- Certification Regarding Lobbying (ED 80-0013 Form)
- General Education Provisions Act (GEPA) Requirements – Section 427
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22. Requirements: What are the Project Performance Measures for this program?
The Department has established the following performance measures for assessing the effectiveness of the School Climate Transformation Grant Program:
- (a) The number of training and technical assistance events provided by the SEA School Climate Transformation Grant Program to assist LEAs in implementing a multitiered behavioral framework.
- (b) The number and percentage of schools in LEAs provided training or technical assistance by the SEA School Climate Transformation Grant Program that implement a multitiered behavioral framework.
- (c) The number and percentage of LEAs provided training or technical assistance by the SEA School Climate Transformation Grant Program that implement a multitiered behavioral framework with fidelity.
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23. Requirements: What technical assistance is available for grantees?
In September of 2014 the Department funded the National Technical Assistance Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports.
The PBIS Center provides a comprehensive and specific TA activities and products; including:
- Information about PBIS practices, systems, outcomes, and data;
- Demonstrations of implementation of PBIS systems and practices with evaluation data at the student, school, district, and state levels;
- Professional development materials and resources for skill and capacity building in the implementation, coordination, leadership, etc. of PBIS practices and systems;
- Collaboration activities across schools, districts, and states; professional organizations; state and federal offices and departments; other federally sponsored centers and projects; etc.;
- Research about the efficacy, efficiency, and relevance of a given PBIS practice, system, and/or demonstration, and
- Evaluation planning tools, evaluation tools, online websites for collection of fidelity and impact data.
All activities and products found directly at the Center website www.pbis.org are downloadable and/or accessible for free. General assistance (e.g., conference calls, material review) that is provided by indirect communications (e.g., telephone, email, mail) also is no cost.
Some targeted and intensive technical assistance as contracted and required by the Office of Special Education Programs or Office of Safe and Healthy Students, U.S. Department of Education might be provided at no cost to specified LEAs or SEAs. Please note that intensive or personalized and on-site technical assistance is not included in the TA Center activities and will need to be budgeted for in grant applications.
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24. Application Review: How will applications be reviewed?
The Department will first screen applications to determine which applications should be forwarded to reviewers based on the adequacy of the applications’ response to the absolute priorities, eligibility, and other requirements published in the NIA.
The Department intends to use non-federal reviewers from various backgrounds and professions with relevant expertise. These reviewers will use their professional judgment to evaluate and score each application based on the selection criteria.
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25. Application Review: Will an applicant receive its scores and reviewer comments after the competitions are completed?
Yes. Both funded and unfunded applicants will receive a copy of the technical review form completed by the peer reviewers. Individual reviewer names are deleted from the forms to preserve confidentiality.
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26. Application Review: Will the reviewers be asked to read every part of each application?
Yes. Reviewers will be asked to read every part of the application (including the budget narrative, and project narrative, among others). For this reason and to facilitate the review, the Department encourages applicants to carefully follow the directions in the application package. Applicants should pay particular attention to the flow of the narrative and correctly label all attachments.
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27. Budget: Is there a maximum award amount for this competition?
Yes. We will reject any application that proposes a budget exceeding $750,000 for a single budget period of 12 months. The Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education may change the maximum amount through a notice published in the Federal Register.
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28. Budget: Are these grants subject to Supplement, Not Supplant provisions?
No.
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29. Budget: What is an indirect cost?
An indirect cost is an expense that you incur that is necessary for implementing the grant, but may be difficult to identify directly with your grant. For example, indirect costs may include money spent for heat, light, rent, telephone, security, accounting, and Internet use.
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30. Budget: Does this program use a restricted or unrestricted indirect cost rate?
This program uses an unrestricted indirect cost rate.
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31. Budget: If an applicant intends to charge indirect costs to the grant, what documentation should it submit with its application?
If an applicant has a current indirect cost rate, it should submit a copy of its current indirect cost rate agreement, including its current rate.
If an applicant does not have a current indirect cost rate agreement, applicants should submit a provisional indirect cost rate. Applicants may choose not to submit indirect cost rate information at the time of application; however, in order to charge indirect costs to the grant, this applicant will need to submit an indirect cost rate agreement. The applicant should include any proposed indirect costs in its proposed budget and budget narrative.
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32. Budget: If a grantee fails to propose indirect costs in the budget section of the application, may it charge indirect costs to the grant once awarded?
During the Department’s budget review process, which occurs prior to grant award, the Department reviews each applicant’s requested budget. If the requested budget does not include estimated indirect costs, they will not be included in the budget approved by the Department that forms the basis of the grant award. This means that, after award, a grantee would only have funds with which to charge indirect costs to the grant if the approved direct costs of the grantee’s project for any budget period exceed the grantee’s actual direct costs. Where this occurs, the grantee may submit a requested budget revision to the Department program office to use the excess funds budgeted for direct costs to cover its indirect costs.
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33. Budget: If, at the time it receives a grant award, a grantee does not have an approved indirect cost agreement, may it still charge indirect costs to the grant?
A grantee that does not have an indirect cost agreement at the time of application may still be able to charge indirect costs until it receives an approved rate, if the Secretary approves the grantee’s request to use a temporary rate of ten percent of budgeted direct salaries and wages. However, after the grant award is issued, the grantee must receive an indirect cost rate within 90 calendar days of the start of the grant to continue to charge indirect costs to the grant.
For additional information about obtaining an approved indirect cost rate or applying for an indirect cost rate, contact the Department’s indirect cost group at IndirectCostGroup@ed.gov.
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34. Budget: Are there guidelines for how much money can be spent on consultants?
No. Under EDGAR 75.515, a grantee must use its general policies and practices when it hires, uses, and pays a consultant as part of the project staff. However, grant funds may not be used to pay a consultant unless there is a need in the project for the services of that consultant and the grantee cannot meet that need by using an employee rather than a consultant.
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35. Budget: What are the funding restrictions?
Program funds may be used for costs related to training, technical assistance, and capacity building, in addition to other allowable costs.
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36. Budget: When direct costs include equipment and large contracts, how are these costs treated in the calculation of a grantee’s indirect costs?
The terms of the applicable indirect cost agreement govern this issue. In general, the indirect cost rate is applied to direct costs to calculate the indirect costs that can be charged to a grant. However, many indirect cost rate agreements exclude from the direct costs used for this calculation equipment costs and contractual costs that exceed the first $25,000 of each contract. Each applicant should consult its own indirect cost rate agreement to determine which expenses can be included in direct costs when calculating indirect costs.
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37. Budget: Are applicants required to secure cost sharing or matching funds?
No.
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38. Budget: When an applicant commits non-Federal funds to the proposed project, does this create a legal obligation to fulfill the commitment?
Yes. Section 75.700 of the Education Department General Administrative regulations (EDGAR) (34 C.F.R. 75.700) requires each grantee to comply with the content of its approved application. Therefore, if an application is approved, the grantee is responsible for fulfilling the commitment of non-Federal funds or in-kind resources set forth in Section B of ED Form 524 included in its application and any commitment of non-Federal funds identified in the application. Grantees are required to meet these commitments and to report on the extent to which they have been met in their annual performance reports.
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39. Budget: What is the project and budget period for these grants?
The project period for this grant is up to five years (60 months). Each grant year is considered its own budget period. The application should include a description of the proposed activities for all five years, as well as a budget narrative that includes information for each budget year. Continuation awards are made based on an applicant’s ability to demonstrate substantial progress in their required annual performance reports.
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40. Budget: What should I use as the project start date?
Should you receive a grant, the start date will depend on when funds can be awarded and obligated. The proposed project start date might be slightly modified to accommodate this.
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41. Budget: Must a grantee wait until the start of the initial budget period to begin incurring costs that grant funds will reimburse?
No. SCTG funds are available to reimburse a grantee for pre-award costs that are reasonable, necessary, and otherwise allowable when these costs were incurred within 90 days prior to the beginning of the grant’s initial budget period. For instance, a grantee with a budget period start date of October 1 may begin carrying out tasks for the new project as early as July 1, although it cannot draw down any payments until October 1 when the grant is awarded and the initial budget period has begun.
However, until notified of receipt of a grant award, an applicant bears the risk of committing its own funds to these pre-award obligations. If the applicant is not awarded a SCTG grant, the Department will not reimburse the applicant for any costs incurred in anticipation of a possible grant award.
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42. Budget: Can applicants budget for “training stipend” costs on ED Form 524?
No. These costs are not allowable for this program. All applicants must complete the “training stipend” line item with a “0.”
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43. Budget: What should be included in the budget narrative?
As explained in the application package, an application should include one budget narrative. This narrative should provide a detailed description of how the applicant plans to use its requested grant funds, and should be of sufficient scope and detail for the Department to determine if the costs are necessary, reasonable, and otherwise allowable, and for the reader to understand how the applicant proposes to use Federal and non-Federal funds to support the proposed project.
Additionally, the “Budget Narrative” section of the application package provides extensive detail, including examples, on how an applicant might present the assumptions on which the proposed performance-based compensation costs are based.
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