· 21st CCLC – 2013 – Technical Assistance – Questions and Answers
Questions / Answers / 21st CCLC RFP - Questions & Answers /1. Question / Does a 4-day school week with longer school day hours have permission to alter the expected 3-hrs/day afterschool?
Our School District is / will be on a 4-day week. We want to offer an after-school program, however the 3-hour/ afterschool day requirement in the RFP would keep our students at school far too long, as our 4-day schedule is already extended by an hour. Is it possible to include in our proposal a shorter after-school time-span (1.5 hours or 2 hours)?
1. Answer / Yes. Schedule modification is permissible in this instance. Oregon applicant schools & districts may modify the proposed # hrs/day from an “ideal” 3 hrs to a shorter amount (e.g., 1.5 – 2.0 hrs/day), provided they (1) document their (4-day) schedule [& class times with Board approval dates and documents] (2) also maintain a total (12) hours per week and four days per week. With later dismissal time, an additional 3-hour block could be ineffective and counterproductive.
· Friday tends to be a "drop-off" day (for attendance) in the afterschool session hours. There are often too many other activities for community, family and school. Keeping this in mind when planning new program schedules may help applicants appropriately align their Friday schedule to the needs and resources of your community learning center design.
· For regular (5-day / week) schedules, the US. Department of Education believes that, to ensure that children have ample extended learning time and based on their analyses of 21st CCLC and other after-school program evaluation data, centers should be open three hours a day and at least four days a week.
2. Question / Is Friday a non-school weekday in a 4-day week? Friday is a non-school day for our district since the district is / will be on a four-day week. Our schools are closed on Fridays, and there are no current programs in place for students. We propose a program operating for 8 hours on a Friday. Is a Friday proposal acceptable?
2. Answer / Yes. If documented, Friday may qualify as a non-school day. Applicants must document the shortened school week & calendar with Board recorded official hours and days. Friday may then qualify as a "non-school weekday" in the terms of the RFP.
· Please be advised: if the applicant is funded and school calendars change during the life of the 21st CCLC grant, the sub-grantee must re-submit for approval their subsequent proposed program design parameters and service plans moving forward.
· RE 8-hour Fridays: Applicants are expected to research options for the length of the Friday session if they have a 4-day/week schedule. An 8-hr Friday session may not be the best solution for the community, school and families. For example: A shorter Friday session (5 hrs) would still include meal options for participating students.
Federal Guidance excerpt: The 21st CCLC statute does not mention specific hours of operation or minimum or maximum numbers of students a center must serve. The statute does, however, specify that community learning centers must offer services during non-school hours or periods when school is not in session. In addition to after-school, that definition can include before school, evenings, weekends, holidays, summers, or other school vacation periods. Each community should base its application on the needs of its students and their families. Activities targeting pre-kindergarten children and adult family members may take place during regular school hours, as these times may be the most suitable for serving these populations.
Experience & Practice
The majority of community learning centers … are open at least 15 hours per week. Research suggests that more time spent in engaged and sustained learning activities yields greater benefits. To ensure that children have ample extended learning time, the Department believes that, based on our analyses of 21st CCLC and other after-school program evaluation data, centers should be open three hours a day and at least four days a week. To best serve the children of working families, centers should consider establishing consistent and dependable hours of operation. States may offer guidelines for specific hours centers must operate.
3. Question / Does K-6 count as MS? We have a K-6. If we write only for that group, does 6th grade count as middle school?
3. Answer / No. K-6 grades do not meet the definition of Middle School in this RFP.
4. Question / Do we have to serve grades from 7-12 for priority pts?
Do you have to include grades from 7 through 12 to get the priority points or is grade 6 enough?
4. Answer / Yes. Inclusion of Grades 7-12 meets the requirements for MS/HS priority points.
Other eligible MS sub-set groups include: 5-8, 6-8, 7-9. The RFP intent is to include both MS & HS in the priority to emphasize the value of every student’s quality transition both into high school and transition successfully to his or her next steps: advanced learning, career and citizenship.
5. Question / Does an application that includes Elementary School negate Middle School/High School Priority points?
Given that we plan to include both our Middle School and High School students, will we still receive the priority points if we include our elementary school students as part of the proposal?
5. Answer / MS / HS priority points remain valid if the applicant also serves ES.
Serving MS / HS qualifies for 5 priority points, providing these schools meet economic eligibility.
Adding Elementary School(s) along with MS / HS does not cancel MS / HS priority points.
6. Question / What if we cannot complete a formal Request For Qualifications (RFQ) to secure a partnership contract before the grant is due?
Our procurement policies do not permit us to secure formal commitments before we must submit our proposal to meet the deadline. In the time available from announcement to grant application deadline, we do not have adequate time to implement the district RFQ protocols and cannot secure binding contractual commitments for some of the proposed partnerships that we are proposing in the application. What are our options?
6. Answer / Narrate the proposed, comparable or current activities and the partners that have demonstrated experience in delivering the proposed plan. An actual (signed) contract is not required. However, it is required that a potential provider both consult with representatives from the applicant agency concerning the program design and the applicant also provide an appropriate statement in Attachment C and confer with eligible providers of the proposed services so that services may begin (if possible) within 90 days of receipt of the award.
7. Question / Can 21st CCLC activities take place during the regular school day?
Example: If I am adding 12 hours do they have to be outside the 8 am-3:30 pm time frame, or since some high school students have a reduced schedule, can I look at saying the additional hours are from 12:30 to 3:30, since they get 4 out of their 7 classes in that time frame and that meets the state requirement (for ADM) of a full time high school student?
7. Answer / No. Sub-grantees cannot provide funded services during the regular school day. The 21st CCLC statute specifically indicates services are to be provided outside the regular school day or during periods when school is not in session, e.g., before school, after school, evenings, weekends, holidays, or summer. The program may offer services to students during normal school hours on days when school is not in session, e.g., school holidays or teacher professional development days.
· Exception: Activities for pre-kindergarten children and adult family members may take place during regular school hours; these times may be the most suitable for serving these populations.
8. Question / Do Cohort 1 sub-grantees qualify as Current or Previous Applicants? Are Cohort 1 sub-grantees considered Last Year Agencies or Current Grantees as defined in the RFP?
8. Answer / Cohort 1 is eligible to compete as a Current Grantee under the RFP guidelines.
Current & Prior Grantees: Grantees currently in Year #5 are eligible to re-apply and compete for funding. Technically these grantees are “prior” in the sense that their program is concluding prior to a possible next award. At the same time, their program is still “current” at the time of grant deadline. Their Year #5 program years conclude June 30th and the new proposed fiscal year will begin July 1st. Both entities that have received 21st CCLC awards that have already ended, or are ending this year, may apply to the State Education Agency (SEA) for funds to continue those programs. The supplanting provision does not prohibit Federal funds from being used to continue programs where a previous Federal grant has ended and other Federal, State or local funds would not have been available. Therefore, the grant must be ending in the year of the competition in order for an applicant to apply for funds to continue the program with additional Federal dollars.
Current Grantees: Those in Year #4 of a present 21st CCLC grant are eligible to receive additional funds under the State Education Agency administered program. However, new funds must be used only to supplement, not supplant, any Federal, State or local dollars available to support activities allowable under the 21st CCLC program. Funds may be used to expand or enhance current activities, or to establish programs in non-participating schools within a Local Education Agency that has a 21st CCLC grant. For example, if a (currently funded) program targets K-5 grade students, the applicant may propose to serve 6th-8th grade students at the same school, but not the (currently funded) K-5th grade students.
9. Question / What are procedures for Volunteers & Child Care Providers? What are your expectations for volunteers and child care providers if taking care of younger students 12 yrs of age or younger?
9. Answer / Criminal Record Checks and Oregon Child Care Division compliance are required. All applicants are required to narrate and describe its procedures as well as policies for verification of these positions and the staff supervision and management plan for all such positions. Criminal Checks: All applicants are required to have on file documented compliance in policy and commitment to implement in practice the criminal records check of employees, contractors, volunteers and applicants for employment. Link: ORS 326.603 and 607
Child Care: All applicants are expected to integrate procedures and practices in compliance with and derived from the Oregon Child Care Division’s regulations, including the Criminal History Registry:
http://www.employment.oregon.gov/EMPLOY/CCD/Rules_Summary.shtml
Resources link:
http://www.employment.oregon.gov/EMPLOY/CCD/LinksANDresources.shtml
10. Question / Can we serve grant eligible students in a consortium model who attend schools below 50%?
Our ESD Title III, Title I-C, Title VII, and Title X programsfunction on a consortium model in which rural districts receive services through an economy of scale (multi-district summer programs, tutoring services, shared professional development) would we be able to serve21st Century grant-eligible students with this same consortiummodel as opposed to a school-based model?
· For example -- we open an after-school program in high school A, which is 50% Free Reduced. Given 21st CCLC grant rules, all students at school Acan be served by thisafter-schoolprogram. Neighboring schools B and C,however, may not meet the 50% or more criteria, though ALL the students in schoolsB and C who areeligible for Title X services are eligible for Free Reduced lunch. Given the 50% figure exists to serve the highest levels of F&R students, would we be able to serve students from nearby schoolseven if theydon't happentoattend a 50%F&R school?
· Accordingly,are all schools served by the grantforced tolimit their services to the students at that school? Would students from eligible school A be unable to offer services to eligible students from ineligible school B, regardless of the individualstudent's F&R lunch status, title services, etc. What if the school sets a capacity for theamount of students to be served and has additional "slots" which aren't filled? Can they serve students from neighboring schools then? If so,are their specific criteria by which students would or wouldn't qualify?
10. Answer / Yes. Such a consortium model, as described, is acceptable and not prohibited. Neither Oregon’s RFP nor 21st CCLC legislation prohibits applicants from providing services for qualifying students with real needs, but who attend different schools that do not meet free & reduced eligibility. It is expected that transportation to the community learning center will be part of the proposed model. Of course documentation is essential in such cases.
11. Question / How does an applicant calculate Free & Reduced Lunch statistics to serve incarcerated youth?
Are the Oregon Youth Authority (OYA) sites, such as Hillcrest Youth Correctional Facility or other OYA sites in Oregon eligible sites for 21st CCLC?
11. Answer / All incarcerated (OYA) youth are legally wards of the state and all are automatically economically eligible. Juvenile Detention Education Program (JDEP) and Youth Corrections Education Program (YCEP) schools are eligible to apply for Title IV-B funding - 21st Century Grants. All the youth in the youth correctional facilities are under court order and the responsibility of Oregon Youth Authority (OYA), so all the youth are categorically eligible for Free and Reduced Lunch Meals and the educational programs are eligible to apply for 21st CCLC funds as Fiscal Agents themselves or in partnership with other eligible and interested partner entities.