American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

1. American Recovery and Reinvestment Act ARRA ESEA Title I Update May 5, 2009 Nebraska Department of Education

2. ARRA Update General Information • Title I and IDEA Allocations are on the NDE homepage (ARRA) • IDEA application open on May 1 • ESEA Title I application open on May 5 • School Lunch Equipment applications are due May 15 • Governor and Legislature determining State Fiscal Stabilization Funds • Anticipate application for these funds will be through the grants management system (GMS)

3. Latest Guidance • Guidance from the Federal Government continues to be developed • Uses of funds and reporting requirements • www.ed.gov and www.recovery.gov • Official sites for all ARRA information and • Guidance • http://www.recovery.nebraska.gov/ • NDE homepage has links to all of the above at: http://www.nde.state.ne.us/

4. A-133 Audits • Any district receiving $500,000 or more in federal funds must have an A-133 single audit • This includes federal funds from any program (IDEA, NCLB, School Lunch, ARRA, REAP, etc.) • Anticipating more districts will need A-133 audits with the additional ARRA funds • A-133 audits review both financial and program compliance

5. ARRA and A-133 • Federal Government Accounting Office (GAO) • Revising the single audit (A-133) process to ensure ARRA activities receive special emphasis and audit scrutiny

6. District Budget Authority • ARRA funds become available when applications are approved • NOTE: If ARRA funds are spent within the 2008-09 budget year, the district’s budget (spending authority) may need to be amended • NEW – some expenditures are allowable from February 17th (date ARRA was signed) • Contact the NDE program staff for assistance

7. ARRA ESEA Consolidated Application • Allocations • The ARRA ESEA Allocations Page will open with funds only for the Title I program • ARRA Title II, Part D (Enhancing Education Through Technology) funds will be added before July • USDE has not yet determined whether the flexibility options (REAP-FLEX and Section 6123) in NCLB apply to ARRA funds • Districts will need to amend ARRA ESEA when Title II, Part D funds are available

8. ARRA Title I Allocations • Posted on the NDE homepage (ARRA) • Needed to be calculated as part of the overall Title I allocation • Preliminary figures for NCLB Title I funds that will be allocated later and used in the NCLB Consolidated Application • District must have a poverty level of 5% to be eligible for ARRA Title I funds

9. ARRA Title I • USDE considers the ARRA Title I and NCLB Title I (regular) funds to be for “one project” in the 2009-10 school year • The carryover provision allows the use of funds allocated now to be used until September 30, 2011 (ARRA is a one-time grant) • ARRA and NCLB funds have separate account numbers and must be tracked separately

10. Implications and Complications • One project with two sources of funds • Different timelines: • ARRA ESEA Title I must be approved before NCLB Consolidated Application can be completed due to Targeting • Same rules apply so 15% carryover limitation affects the “one project” • Nonpublic Participation Forms • This year already included ARRA and NCLB funds

11. ARRA ESEA Consolidated Application • Opens May 5 and is due June 20 • Abbreviated “consolidated” application • Goals and Needs • Applies only to Title I until amending in Title II, Part D • Only two tabs: • School Reform • Nonpublic Participation • Only 1 application now • ESEA Title I

12. School Reform • Provides information on possible reporting requirements (no final guidance yet) • Asks for general description of the uses of ARRA funds to support: • District’s Title I program • School Reform areas (see next slide) • May need to be more specific when reporting requirements are known

13. Four Areas of the Reform Agenda • Teacher effectiveness and ensuring that all schools have highly qualified teachers • Higher standards and rigorous assessments that will improve both teaching and learning • Intensive support, effective interventions, and improved achievement in schools that need it the most • Better information to educators and the public, to address the individual needs of students and improve teacher performance

14. Nonpublic Participation • For districts with nonpublic schools or having resident low-income students attending nonpublic schools • All the NCLB rules apply • Equitable participation of nonpublic students and staff for Title I and Title II, Part D • Title I’s Targeting pages will figure allocations for nonpublic students and the percentage of any district set-asides

15. ARRA ESEA Title I Application • Same pages as the NCLB Consolidated Application • Responses must address only the use of ARRA funds • Amendments to ARRA ESEA Title I allowed but no changes will be permitted to the Targeting data

16. Program Information • ARRA ESEA Program Information • Questions similar to NCLB Title I • Activities to be funded with ARRA • Preschool Information • Summer services • Nonpublic services • Teacher effectiveness (professional development) • Services for Neglected and homeless • School Improvement

17. Title I Targeting • Only one set of data can be used for ARRA and NCLB Title I targeting • Data for public and nonpublic poverty by school attendance area • Any single date between January 1, 2009 and June 1, 2009 • The ARRA ESEA and NCLB Consolidated Applications will use the same Targeting data

18. Targeting Data • When the ARRA ESEA Application is submitted, the Targeting pages will be locked • Locked pages can be changed (Returned for Changes) but will be Locked (not amendable) once the original ARRA ESEA application is approved • Districts must identify the buildings to be served in the 2009-10 school year with “all” Title I funds, not just the ARRA funds

19. New Schoolwide Projects • An accelerated timeline for new schoolwide projects has been announced • Using the 2009-10 Targeting data, a building with 40% poverty is eligible* to become a schoolwide (*see next slide) • Districts anticipating a building becoming a schoolwide should mark it as schoolwide in the ARRA ESEA Targeting Step 4

20. Other Criteria for Eligibility • Schoolwide Eligibility: • 40% poverty (public only or public and nonpublic) • Building must have an active school improvement team • There must be an improvement plan that can be adapted to meet NCLB Title I requirements • At least 80% of the teachers must support moving to a schoolwide (this must be documented) • For schools that submitted the Schoolwide Intent form by May 1, the schoolwide plan must be submitted by June 1 (in time for a peer review)

21. Connecting the Targeting Data • The Targeting data from the ARRA ESEA Title I Application, upon approval, will be copied into the NCLB Consolidated Application, when it is created • The NCLB Application will have new tabs that have • ESEA and NCLB Title I allocations combined for set asides and building allocations • Display the amounts under ARRA and ESEA

22. Combined ARRA and ESEA • Targeting Step 4 combines ARRA and ESEA funds in the NCLB Consolidated Application • Used for allocations among the buildings • Amounts for nonpublic • District set-asides that are required • Neglected funds • Parent Involvement • School Improvement (if necessary) • Homeless • Set-asides that are not required

23. ARRA Budget Pages • Allowable activities remain the same as the NCLB Title I • Administrative Costs – a 5% limit on ARRA funds used for Title I administration costs • Indirect costs will use the 2008-09 approved indirect cost rate since these funds can be spent during the 2008-09 budget year • Indirect costs may be over “recovered” due to the increased funds and may need to be adjusted in future years

24. ESEA Title I • Staff – include only ARRA funded (see next slides) • No scheduled payments for staff funded with ARRA funds • Equipment – include only ARRA funded

25. Funding Staff with ARRA • Supplement, not supplant applies to ARRA funds • Entire guidance from U. S. Department of Education on Supplement, not supplant is provided at the end of this powerpoint • There are instances, in Targeted Assistance Programs, where the district funded portion of Title I staff can be ARRA funded from Feb. 17th on (see next slide) • Any staff funded with both ARRA and NCLB funds must use time and effort records

26. Criteria for use of ARRA Funds • ARRA funds can be used to cover the district funded portion of salary and benefit without supplanting only IF • The Title I program is fully operational as Title I (all students served are eligible, parent compacts for all, etc.) • The original 2008-09 district Title I allocation was insufficient to fully fund the teacher • The 2008-09 Title I budget contains only salary and benefits (no supplies, equipment, etc.) • These criteria indicate the district’s decision was made at the time of budgeting for 2008-09

27. Title I Staff and Flexibility Options • If a district used one of the flexibility options (REAP-FLEX or Section 6123) in their 2008-09 NCLB Consolidated Application to move funds to Title I in order to fully fund a Title I teacher, the district cannot use ARRA funds now to cover those costs • The flexibility options cannot be changed at this time of the year since payments would have been made • The position was fully funded in the 2008-09 application although from multiple sources

28. Payments for ARRA • ARRA payments are through the GMS • Like the NCLB payments • Reimbursement Requests when funds have been spent with supporting documentation • Will need the names of all staff paid with ARRA funds in the supporting documentation • No scheduled payments for salaries and staff funded with ARRA funds

29. Assurances • Assurances • All NCLB program assurances are still included as they may be needed if the flexibility options do apply to ARRA Title II, Part D when it is added • NEW assurance – “The district will file a school-by-school listing of its per-pupil educational expenditures from state and local sources during the 2008-09 school year no later than December 1, 2009.”

30. Financial Reporting • Awaiting guidance on what will be required for the ARRA quarterly reports • The amount of ARRA funds spent is included in the information we’ve received and we do not know if this will mean quarterly reimbursement requests • Attempting to create a district quarterly report for all ARRA grants rather than separate program reports • Close-out of ARRA ESEA is September 30, 2010 and carryover is allowed

31. Carryover • The Title I carryover limitation of 15% applies to the “one project” of ARRA and NCLB Title I funds • Still working on a way to connect the close-out of ARRA and NCLB applications to simplify this process • Also waiting on final guidance about waivers for districts to exceed the 15% carryover limitation

32. Supplement, Not Supplant (SNS) USDE Guidance: A determination of supplanting necessitates determining what activities a district would conduct with non-Federal funds if it had no Title I, Part A funds. Generally, a district may not use Title I, Part A funds for activities that it would have conducted in the absence of Title I, Part A funds. Several situations give rise to a presumption of supplanting: (1) the activity is required by local, State, or other Federal law; (2) the district conducted the activity in the prior year with non-Federal funds; (3) the district uses non-Federal funds to provide the same activity for non-Title I students or in non-Title I schools that it provides with Title I Part A funds for Title I students in Title I schools.

33. SNS USDE Guidance Continued Thus, the use of Title I, Part A ARRA funds for an activity that a district provided in the prior year with non-Federal funds generally gives rise to a presumption that the district would have continued to use non-Federal funds to conduct the activity this year in the absence of Title I, Part a ARRA funds and, therefore, the use of Title I, Part A funds for that activity would constitute supplanting. The district may overcome this presumption, however, under the following conditions:

34. SNS USDE Guidance Continued • The district can demonstrate that there was a reduction in the amount of non-Federal funds available to the district to pay for the activity previously supported by non-Federal funds or the district can demonstrate that its educational priorities with respect to its use of non-Federal funds have changed.

35. SNS USDE Guidance Continued • The district makes the decision to eliminate the activity without taking into consideration the availability of Title I, Part A funds, as documented by fiscal and programmatic records confirming that, in the absence of Title I, Part A funds, the district would have eliminated the activity. These records, for example, might document the reduction in non-Federal funds or explain what priorities changed to warrant a shift of non-Federal funds away from those priorities and the districts reasons for choosing to eliminate non-Federal support for the priorities. Please note that such documentation must be contemporaneous with the district’s decision-making process; it is very difficult to rebut a presumption of supplanting after the fact.

36. SNS USDE Guidance Continued • The activity now paid with Title I, Part A funds is allowable under Title I, Part A and consistent with all Title I fiscal and programmatic requirements. This means, for instance, that a teacher formerly paid from non-Federal funds must be (1) engaged in activities that are allowable under Title I, Part A; (2) meeting the academic needs of Title I students identified through a schoolwide programs school’s comprehensive needs assessment or providing supplemental services in a targeted assistance school; and (3) conducting activities consistent with the district’s application approved by the State.

37. SNS USDE Guidance Continued • Using Title I, Part A funds for the activity also meets the general standards established in Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-87 Cost Principles for State, Local, and Indian Tribal Governments (OMB A-87). OMB Circular A-87 requires that the use of funds for a specific purpose be necessary and reasonable for the proper and efficient performance and administration of the program and be authorized and not prohibited under State and local laws or regulations.