The purpose of this document is to provide additional guidance to Local Solutions grantees regarding funding and budget issues.

Implementation Program Years

In consideration of the timing needed to conduct RFP competitions and negotiate grant awards, the Local Solutions Grants will be funded for four program years rather than five years. For the Local Solutions grants, the first program year will be eighteen months, from January 2019 through June 2020.

Each year after will be twelve months, from July 1 to June 30, of each year with a grant ending date of June 2023. This schedule and continued funding is contingent on: (1) annual submission of the required data report; (2) progress of the program in alignment with the proposed program plan submitted in the grant application; (3) the continued availability of funding in the state budget for this purpose, and (4) continued demonstration of need for more fully credentialed special education teachers.

All Local Solutions grantees, whether the award was conditional or not, have the opportunity to submit a revised first year budget (grant funds and matching funds) if the extended eighteen-month initial program year has an effect on what the first program year will include.

Budget Considerations for Current and Future Grantees

The authorizing legislation specifies that "a grant recipient shall not use more than 5 percent of a grant award for program administration costs" so that there will be a maximum of direct services and/or related services that directly benefit the participating teachers. The legislative intent is for the remaining 95% to be expended in these types of direct services to participants. LEAs need to be able to show how the 95% of the grant funds are used to recruit, train, support, and/or retain individual special education teachers.

Examples of allowable grant funds expenditures that directly benefit participating teachers or teacher candidates include: teacher career pathways, signing bonuses for newly credentialed teachers who earn a special education specialist credential, training and stipends for mentors, professional learning communities, service awards, teacher service scholarships, student debt payment, and living stipends for newly credentialed teachers who earn a special education specialist credential.

Examples of unallowable grant funds expenditures include: Food, drink, or "swag" items; furniture, construction, remodeling or other capital equipment costs; additional administrative personnel beyond the 5% statutory maximum who do not directly provide services to individual participants; facilities rental; and legal services.

A Note Regarding Charter Schools and Charter Management Organizations (CMOs)

Per legislation, applicants may be school districts, county offices of education, charter schools, and regional occupational center or program operated by a joint powers authority. Non-public schools may also submit a grant proposal to recruit, prepare, and retain special education specialists.

Charter schools that submit a grant proposal for the Teacher Residency grants must include a CDS code on the application, and both the fiscal agent and the final signature must be personnel at the applicant charter school site. Fiscal agents and administrative personnel from Charter Management Organizations (CMOs) may not sign the applications on the behalf of the applicant charter school. As these grant funds are General Fund dollars, these funds may not be provided to CMOs or 503(c) (3) organizations on behalf of eligible individual charter schools. A charter school may apply on its own behalf or may apply as the lead applicant for a consortium of charter schools.

Updated December 05, 2023