Transcript 21st Century Community Learning Centers and Non

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21ST CENTURY COMMUNITY
LEARNING CENTERS AND
NON-TRADITIONAL PROVIDERS
Brette Kaplan, Esq.
[email protected]
Brustein & Manasevit, PLLC
Spring 2012 Forum
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Agenda
21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC)
Resources
Selecting Subgrantees
Subgrant v. Contract
21st CCLC Program Overview
General Fiscal Rules
Equitable Services
Program Evaluation
Common Monitoring Findings
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21st CCLC Resources
• ED’s Website:
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http://www.ed.gov/programs/21stcclc/index.html
21st CCLC Statute:
http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/esea02/pg55.html
21st CCLC Guidance:
http://www.ed.gov/programs/21stcclc/guidance2003.doc
Regulations on the Participation of Faith-Based and
Community Organizations in Department Programs:
http://www.ed.gov/policy/fund/reg/fbci-reg.html
EDGAR:
http://www.ed.gov/policy/fund/reg/edgarReg/edgar.html
OMB Circulars: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/
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Legal Structure of Federal Programs
Statutes
NCLB, IDEA, WIA, CTE
General Education
Provisions Act (GEPA)
Regulations
Program Regulations
Education Department General
Administrative Regulations
(EDGAR)
Office of Management &
Budget (OMB) Circulars
A-21, A-87, A-122, A-133
Guidance
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Selecting Subgrantees
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Subgrantee Selection Requirements
• Eligible organizations
• Any public or private organization
• Ex: non-profits, city or county government agencies,
FBOs, IHEs, and for-profit corporations
• Consortium of 2 or more entities
• Awards can only be made to responsible subgrantees and
contractors possessing the ability to perform successfully
under the terms and conditions of the proposed grant or
contract.
• EDGAR, Section 80.36(b)(8)
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What must be included in a local
organization’s application? (Guidance, F-3)
• Before- & after-school, summer &
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other non-school time activities;
How students will travel to/from
center and home;
How organization will disseminate
information about the center;
How activities are expected to
improve student achievement;
Federal, state, & local programs
that will coordinate with proposed
program for effective use of public
resources
How program will meet principles of
effectiveness
• Partnership between LEA, CBO,
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& other public or private
organization (if appropriate);
Evaluation of community needs
& available resources, and
description of how program
addresses those needs
Organization’s experience, or
promise of success, in providing
educational & related activities
to enhance the student’s
academic performance
How applicant will use qualified
seniors as volunteers (if
applicable)
Required assurances
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Subgrant v. Contract
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What is a subgrant?
• Federal law dictates what a subgrant is and when it is
allowed
• Subgrantees (also known as subrecipients) must carry out
responsibilities of the federal program
• SEA must monitor subgrantees’ compliance with all
federal program and fiscal requirements
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What is a contract?
• A contract provides goods or services as needed by the
program
• Contractors (vendors) are NOT responsible for carrying
out the responsibilities of the federal program
• Contractors must carry out the terms of their contracts
• The educational agency must have a contract
administration system to ensure contractors are
complying with the terms of their contracts
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Subgrant v. Contract
How to Distinguish Between Them
• A subgrantee:
• Determines who is eligible to participate in the federal
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program
Measures performance against objectives of the federal
program
Is responsible for programmatic decision making
Is responsible for complying with federal program
requirements
Uses federal funds to carry out the program (not just
provide specific goods/services)
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Subgrant v. Contract (continued)
How to Distinguish Between Them
• A contractor:
• Provides goods/services within normal business
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operations
Provides similar goods/services to different purchasers
Operates in a competitive environment
Provides goods/services ancillary to operation of the
federal program
Is NOT subject to compliance requirements of the
federal program
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Subgrant v. Contract (continued)
How to Distinguish Between Them
• Agency’s designation as a contract or a subgrant is not
binding
• Auditors are required to use their professional judgment
to determine the true nature of a document based on
the previous criteria
• Use proper terminology
• Minimizes confusion
• Ensures compliance with appropriate federal
regulations
• Helps facilitate an effective audit
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Nature of Funding
• Subgrant (e.g., pass-through funds from state
administered program)
• Allowable activities based on applicable statute,
local plan, state rules
• Management rules:
• EDGAR
• OMB Circulars
• State law, applicable policies and procedures
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Nature of Funding (continued)
• Contract
• Allowable activities based on terms and
conditions of contract
• Management rules
• Terms of the contract
• State contract law
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CCLC Program
Overview
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What is the purpose?
• To establish or expand community learning
centers that provide students with:
• Academic enrichment opportunities along with activities
designed to complement the students’ regular academic
program
• Must also offer families of
eligible students literacy
and related educational
development
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What is a Community Learning Center?
• Located in elementary or secondary schools, or other similarly
accessible facilities
• Provides a wide range of services to support student learning
and development, including:
• Tutoring
• Mentoring
• Homework help
• Academic enrichment
• Counseling
 Community service opportunities
 Character Education Programs
 Drug & violence prevention
 Music, technology, arts, sports &
cultural activities
• Operates during non-school hours
• Before or after school, summer, holidays, weekends, etc.
• Flexibility waiver exception!
• Assists students in meeting state and local academic
achievement standards in core academic subjects
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ESEA Flexibility
• ED allowing SEAs to request flexibility through waivers of
10 provisions of the ESEA
• ED allowing an optional 11th waiver to permit community
learning centers to use 21st CCLC funds to support
expanded learning time during the school day in addition
to activities during non-school hours or periods when
school is not in session (i.e., before and after school or
during summer recess)
• ESEA Flexibility Guidance, p.2 (September 23, 2011)
• http://www.ed.gov/esea/flexibility
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Eligibility Requirements
• Who can participate?
• Students
• Adult family members of participating students
• Younger children who will become students at the
school being served
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How to Ensure Funds
are Spent Properly
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Allowability under 21st CCLC
• Is the proposed cost consistent with the applicable OMB
Circular?
• A-21 Educational Institutions
• A-87 State, Local & Indian Tribal Governments
• A-122 Non-Profit Organizations
• 48 CFR part 31 For-Profit Organizations
• Is the proposed cost allowable under the 21st CCLC
program?
• Is the proposed cost consistent with 21st CCLC specific
fiscal rules?
• Is the proposed cost consistent with EDGAR?
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OMB Circular A-87 & A-122
Federal Cost Principles
All costs must be:
1. Necessary
2. Reasonable
3. Allocable
4. Legal under state and local law
5. Conform with federal laws & grant terms
6. Consistently treated
7. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles
8. Not included as match
9. Net of applicable credits
10. Adequately documented
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Watch for Allowability Differences
OMB Circular A-87
OMB Circular A-122
43 Select Items of Costs
 General Government
Expenses
Maintenance, Operation
and Repairs
52 Select Items of Costs
 Housing and personal living expenses
 Labor Relations costs
 Losses on other sponsored agreements or contracts
 Organization costs
 Page charges in professional journals
 Participant support costs
 Recruiting costs
 Relocation costs
 Specialized service facilities
 Transportation costs
 Trustees
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21st CCLC Program Allowability Rules
Local Use of Funds
Remedial education activities and academic
enrichment learning programs 
• Recreational activities
• Tutoring services and mentoring programs
• chess clubs (foster critical thinking skills, persistence)
• poetry contests and slams (encourage reading, writing and
speaking)
• Mathematics and science education activities
• woodworking programs (encourage planning, measurement,
estimation)
• cooking programs (foster application of math and science skills)
• Arts and music education activities
• theatre programs (encourage reading, speaking, teamwork)
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21st CCLC Program Allowability Rules
Local Use of Funds
• Programs for Limited English Proficient students that
emphasize language skills and academic achievement
• Expanded library service hours
• Programs that promote parental involvement and family
literacy
• Book clubs (encourage reading and writing for pleasure)
• Telecommunications and technology education programs
• Computer clubs or newspaper publishing (promote writing, editing
and knowledge of, and comfort with, technology)
• Programs that assist truant, suspended, or expelled
students to improve their academic achievement
• Drug and violence prevention programs, counseling
programs, and character education programs
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21st CCLC Program Allowability Rules
Principles of Effectiveness
• Programs or activities must be based on:
• Needs assessment of objective data
• An established set of performance measures aimed at
ensuring high quality academic enrichment
opportunities; and
• Scientifically based research that provides evidence
that the program or activity will help students meet the
state and local academic achievement standards (as
appropriate)
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CCLC Program
Fiscal Rules
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21st CCLC Fiscal Rules:
Supplement Not Supplant
• 21st CCLC funds can be used to supplement,
but in no case supplant, federal, state, local
funds, or other non-federal funds.
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Auditors Presume Supplanting
in Two Situations
1. Required to be made available under other federal,
state or local laws.
2. Provided with non-federal funds in prior year
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Presumption Rebutted!
• If able to demonstrate would not
have provided services
if the federal funds were
not available
• NO non-federal resources
available this year!
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What Documentation is Needed?
• Fiscal or programmatic documentation to confirm that, in
the absence of Federal funds, would have eliminated staff
or other services in question
• State or local legislative action
• Budget histories and information
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21st Century Fiscal Rules (continued)
What else can be charged to the 21st CCLC Grant?
• Indirect Costs
• If you have an approved rate that can distinguish costs
for each program
• Restricted Indirect Cost Rate
• Pre-award costs (if have written approval)
• If charge after award notice but before the effective
date, costs may be charged to the extent they would
have been allowable if incurred after the award date
• If, prior to receiving notice of the grant, the local
organization incurs financial obligations -- it is doing
so at its own risk
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Charge a Fee?
YES, however:
• Must offer a sliding scale of fees and scholarships for
those who cannot afford the program
• Income collected from fees must be used to fund program
activities specified in the grant application
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21st CCLC Carryover
• SEA has discretion
• If grantee making substantial progress:
• SEA may not redistribute 21st CCLC funds that remain
unobligated if doing so would reduce the total amount
of funds available to the grantee from a given fiscal
year’s appropriation below $50,000
• If grantee is NOT making substantial progress:
• SEA decides not to award a second or third year 21st
CCLC grant continuation
• SEA may redistribute any unobligated funds, even if
doing so would reduce the funds available below
$50,000
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Equitable Services to
Private School Students
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Equitable Services
• 21st CCLC participants receiving funds must
provide equitable services to private schools
(§ 9501)
• Title IX, Part E Uniform Provisions Subpart 1 – Private
Schools:
http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/guid/equitableserguidance.
doc
• Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Title 34, Part 299,
Subpart E -- Services to Private School Students and
Teachers:
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getcfr.cgi?TITLE=34&PART=299&SECTION=6&YEAR=2000
&TYPE=TEXT
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Equitable Services
Purpose is that the educational agency:
• Spends an equal amount of funds to serve similar public
and private school students;
• Provides services and benefits that are equitable in
comparison to the services and benefits provided to public
school students;
• Addresses the specific needs and educational programs of
public and private school students on a comparable basis;
• Provides, in the aggregate, approximately the same
amount of services;
• Provides equal opportunities to participate; and
• Provides services that meet private school students’
specific needs.
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Consultation
• The educational agency must provide “timely and
meaningful” consultation
• Timely
• Before LEA makes any decisions
• Meaningful
• Genuine opportunity for parties to
express their views
• Views seriously considered
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Consultation
• Consultation must include:
• How private school students’ needs will be identified
• What services will be offered
• How, where, and by whom the services will be provided
• How the services will be assessed,
and how the results of the
assessment will be used to
improve services
• The size and scope of the services
• How and when the agency will make
decisions about the delivery of services
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Program Evaluation
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Program Evaluation
• Conduct a periodic evaluation of the program to assess
progress towards achieving the goal of providing high
quality opportunities for academic enrichment
• Use the results of the
evaluation to refine,
improve and strengthen the
program, and to refine the
performance measures
• Notify the public of the right
to review the results of the
evaluation and allow such
review upon request
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Common Findings
• Common 21st CCLC monitoring findings:
• Peer review process
• Awards between 3 to 5 years
• Applicants describe how the community learning center
will continue after 21st CCLC funding ends
• Outreach efforts to inform eligible entities about grant
competition
• SEA monitoring subgrantees
• Reporting complete, accurate, and reliable data
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Questions
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Disclaimer
This presentation is intended solely to provide general
information and does not constitute legal advice.
Attendance at the presentation or later review of these
printed materials does not create an attorney-client
relationship with Brustein & Manasevit, PLLC. You should
not take any action based upon any information in this
presentation without first consulting legal counsel familiar
with your particular circumstances.