News Archive
News Items
5/12/09 - NCLB Title V, Part A: LEAs that have not yet applied for Title V, Part A funds that carried over from 2007-08 may still do so. To access the funds, please submit a 2008-09 FS-10 budget form, a budget narrative and page 72 of the 2008-09 consolidated application as soon as possible to Grants Management, NYSED, Room 674 EBA, Albany NY 12234. LEAs can review their 2008-09 NCLB Allocation Reports to determine if 2007-08 carryover is available. All funds must be obligated by August 31, 2009 and expended by December 31, 2009.
5/5/09 - American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: To be eligible for funds, ARRA requires that all primary grantees (New York State and the State Education Department) and their subgrantees (local agencies) have a Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number and register with Central Contractor Registration (CCR). Local agencies that anticipate the receipt of ARRA grant funds must take immediate steps to comply with this requirement. Additional information about obtaining a DUNS number and registering with CCR is available at http://www.grants.gov/applicants/applicant_faqs.jsp
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4/24/09 - 2009-2010 Indirect Cost Rates: Chief Administrative Officers of agencies should expect to receive letters notifying them of their 2009-2010 maximum indirect cost rates. Rates for school districts and BOCES are calculated using ST-3 and SA-111 data for the school year ending June 30, 2008. The rate for all charter schools and community-based organizations is 2.6 percent; the rate for colleges and universities is 8 percent. Charter schools and CBOs may request a higher rate, up to 8 percent, by completing an FS-87R form available by contacting Grants Finance. All requests must be received by February 26, 2010. Additional information about indirect costs is available in the Fiscal Guidelines and in Frequently Asked Questions. Please direct questions to Grants Finance.
3/23/09 - American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: Grants Finance will add pertinent information regarding ARRA to our website as it becomes available. In the meantime, we suggest that those interested in the legislation check the Department's ARRA website occasionally for updates. Questions or comments about ARRA may be directed to arra@mail.nysed.gov.
3/6/09 - 2008-09 Indirect Cost Rates for Community-Based Organizations: In accordance with methodology approved by the U.S. Department of Education, Grants Finance has established that the 2008-09 restricted indirect cost rate for charter schools and community-based organizations is 2.6 percent. (Indirect cost rates for certain grant programs may be limited by statute or regulations or they may be negotiated downward by SED staff.) These agencies may apply for a higher rate of up to 8 percent by submitting a Request to Increase Indirect Cost Rate form. For 2008-09, all requests and required documentation must be received in full by Grants Finance no later than March 31, 2009. This will ensure that review of requests is completed in time to allow for the submission and review of subsequent budget amendments. For additional information, please refer to the Fiscal Guidelines or contact Grants Finance at grantsweb@mail.nysed.gov.
2/13/09 - Final Allocations for 2008-09 Title I, Parts A and D: Each year, the Department revises preliminary Title I allocations to LEAs. The final set of 2008-09 Title I allocations is now available, and LEAs are encouraged to review their NCLB allocation reports to determine if changes to their Title I programs and budgets are required. An LEA's 2008-09 Title I expenditures cannot exceed the "Total Available" amount now listed on that LEA's 2008-09 NCLB allocation report. Please contact Grants Finance with questions about allocation reports; questions regarding computation of the Title I allocations should be directed to the Title I School & Community Services office at emscpir@mail.nysed.gov.
11/24/08 - FS-10-F Final Expenditure Report in Excel: Grants Finance is now offering an Excel version of the FS-10-F Final Expenditure Report Long Form (128 MB) for LEAs and other agencies to use. This version has features that may help to improve the reporting process by reducing the number of final expenditure reports with minor errors that can delay review. We hope that it is useful and welcome comments and suggestions at grantsweb@mail.nysed.gov.
10/2/08 - Use of Grant Funds for Retroactive Salary Payments: Grants Finance's set of Frequently Asked Questions now addresses the use of current year grant funds for retroactive salary raises. If you have any questions about this issue, please contact Grants Finance at grantsweb@mail.nysed.gov or (518) 474-4815.
7/7/08 - FS-10-F Short Form Documentation Requirements: Grants Finance has established new documentation requirements for the FS-10-F Short Form final expenditure report. The requirements are that agencies 1) record grant expenditure details in a manner consistent with the internal pages of the FS-10-F Long Form and maintain the information in their files and 2) make these details readily available upon request from authorized individuals. To learn more about the new requirements, please go to http://www.oms.nysed.gov/cafe/guidance/fs10fsfreq.html.
7/28/08 - FS-10 Budget Form in Excel: Grants Finance is offering an Excel version of the FS-10 budget form for LEAs and other agencies to use during the 2008-09 budgeting process. This version has features that may help to reduce the number of budgets with minor errors that can delay approval. We hope that it is useful and welcome comments and suggestions at grantsweb@mail.nysed.gov.
6/2/08 - 2008-2009 Indirect Cost Rates: Grants Finance has mailed letters to agency Chief Administrative
Officers notifying them of their 2008-2009 maximum indirect cost
rates. The rates are calculated annually using methodology approved
by the U.S. Department of Education. Rates for school districts and
BOCES are calculated using ST-3 (school districts) and SA-111 (BOCES)
data for the school year ending June 30, 2007. The rate for all charter
schools and community-based organizations is 2.6 percent; however,
these agencies may apply for a higher rate, up to 8 percent, by completing
an FS-87R form available by contacting
Grants Finance. The rate for colleges and universities is 8 percent.
However, statute or regulations for certain grant programs may only
permit a lower rate, and rates may be negotiated downward by SED
program staff.
Additional information about indirect costs is available in the Fiscal
Guidelines and in Frequently
Asked Questions. If you have any questions, please contact
Grants Finance.
4/16/08 - NCLB Title V, Part A - Innovative Programs: For 2008-09, the federal government has reduced funding for Title V, Part A - Innovative Programs to zero. As a result, in 2008-09 local educational agencies will not receive Title V allocations, but those with carryover funds from 2007-08 will be able to apply in the NCLB Consolidated Application to use them. Alternatively, LEAs may choose to expend all available funds in 2007-08. To ensure that LEAs make maximum use of their Title V funds, the Department encourages those responsible for Title V programs to work closely with their business offices to obligate and spend all funds available to them as part of their 2007-08 or 2008-09 budgets. To verify the amount of Title V, Part A funds available to an LEA, please go to our REPORTS page.
2/1/08 - Final Allocations for 2007-08 Title I, Parts A and D: Each year, the Department revises preliminary allocations to LEAs for the Title I program. The final set of 2007-08 Title I allocations is now available, and LEAs are encouraged to review their allocation and carryover reports to determine if changes to their Title I programs and/or budget amendments are required.
11/2/07 - Application Review Procedures for NCLB Allocational Programs: Beginning in 2007-08, the Department implemented new application review procedures for NCLB allocation programs. These FAQs provide information about the process.
Reminders
August 2008 - Using Carryover During the Budgeting Process: The 2008-09 NCLB and IDEA allocation reports list allocation information for each LEA - its 2008-09 allocations, carryover from 2007-08, and the total amounts available. An LEA’s 2008-09 budget for each grant may total any amount up to what is listed as ‘Total Available’ on its allocation report. If you are preparing a budget for 2008-09 but your LEA’s 2007-08 final expenditure report for that grant has not been received by Grants Finance, or has been received and has not yet been reviewed, then the carryover amount listed on the report is tentative. Once Grants Finance has reviewed the final expenditure report, carryover may increase if expenditures were less than planned or if there were disallowances. Grants Finance suggests that LEAs limit their 2008-09 budgets to what is listed as Total Available; doing otherwise will delay approval of the budget until after the 2007-08 final expenditure report is reviewed. Please direct questions regarding the allocation reports to Grants Finance; contact the appropriate program office if you have questions regarding the use of NCLB or IDEA carryover funds.
May 2008 - Time and Effort Records: Regular payroll records are not sufficient time and effort documentation for an employee who is funded by a federal grant program. If an employee works 100 percent of the time on a federal grant, the employee or a direct supervisor must complete time distribution certification at least once every six months. The certification will include the employee’s name and position, the period of employment, and the name of the federal program. If an employee works on more than one federal grant program, on a federal grant and a State grant, or on a federal grant’s direct cost and indirect cost activities, then personnel activity reports (PARs) must be completed monthly to document the distribution of time worked on the federal programs. PARs have to be completed after the work is done and be signed and dated by the employee. Maintain time distribution certifications and PARs with the regular payroll records.
April 2008 - Budget Amendments: Budget amendments (Form FS-10-As) are used by agencies to request prior approval of substantial changes to planned grant expenditures. Failure to receive prior approval places agencies at risk of having expenditures disallowed. We suggest that agencies with NCLB and IDEA allocational grants ending on August 31 review their budgets, activities and the availability of prior year carryover funds now, determine if budget amendments are necessary, and submit any amendments as soon as possible. In all cases, amendments must be submitted to SED program offices before final expenditure reports are prepared and before the grant period ends. Questions regarding the information presented in our reports, such as prior year carryover, may be directed to grantsweb@mail.nysed.gov.
March 2008 - Requests for Additional Funds: Upon approval of a grant application and budget, a first payment is made automatically. Use an FS-25 to request additional funds until the project is closed or payments of 90 percent of the budget amount have been made. For budgets of $100,000 or more, agencies should request funds each month; otherwise, requests should be made quarterly.