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Sustainable Schools Grant Program

/ 410-974-2941

Introduction

The health and future of the Chesapeake Bay watershed will one day rest in the hands of its youngest citizens: the more than three million kindergarten through twelfth grade students in our region. Partners in the Chesapeake Bay Program recognize that participation in strong, targeted environmental literacy programs, especially in the context of one's community and culture, provide a vital foundation for watershed stewardship. The Chesapeake Bay Trust is proud to partner with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the National Oceanographic Atmospheric Administration to offer grant support for sustainable school planning efforts in jurisdictions of the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

The 2014 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement, a plan for the restoration of the Bay, its tributaries, and the lands that surround themincludes an Environmental Literacy Goal and three Environmental Literacy Outcomes. This grant program offers grants to Signatory Jurisdictions to advance the Sustainable Schools Outcome stated below:

Environmental Literacy Goal:Enable every student in the region to graduate with the knowledge and skills to act responsibly to protect and restore their local watershed.

Sustainable Schools Outcome:Continually increase the number of schools in the region that reduce the impact of their buildings and grounds on their local watershed, environment, and human health through best practices, includingstudent-led protection and restoration projects.

Goal of the Grant Program

The goal of this grant program is to support activities at the state level or in region(s) within a state that increase school division participation in sustainable school certification and recognition programs and build capacity among sustainable school programs to support school sustainability initiatives.

Sample Eligible Projects

The following is a list of specific project types that could be supported through this Grant Program:

  • Sustainable School Technical Training: Workshops with school facilities staff, NGOs, state and federal partners, teachers, etc. that build capacity and competency for sustainable schools.
  • Technical Assistance Networks: Development of a network or networks of trained technical assistance providers for any or all facets of sustainable school programs.
  • Outreach and Planning: Planning and outreach efforts to highlight models, establish partnerships to replicate successful programs, build awareness and increase support for sustainable schools among state agencies, educational and professional associations and networks, and other key stakeholders.
  • Coordination and Planning Workshops: Efforts to develop partnerships that strategically align coordinate and/or establish clear pathways within and among sustainable schools programs.
  • Sustainable Schools Leadership Training: Workshops designed for Superintendents, Curriculum and Instruction Leaders; and School Board members that guide them through a process to plan and implement sustainability policies and plans at the district level.

Funding partners are open to other project types, and applicants are encouraged to think creatively to meet the needs of local school divisions and schools in advancing their sustainability goals.

General Criteria.

The following criteria will be used to evaluate proposals:

  • Demonstrated ability of the applicant to increase the number of certified sustainable schools in the state/region.
  • Evidence that the activities proposed will result in a lasting increase in the capacity to support sustainable school efforts.
  • Evidence that the activities proposed will strengthen the connection between sustainable schools activities and student learning.
  • Inclusion of a letter of support from the State department of education(s) where work is proposed pledging intent to integrate outputs of this work into larger efforts is strongly encouraged. Letters from the sustainability coordinators or other staff leading sustainability programs are preferred.
  • The extent to which contributions of funds or in-kind services from project partners and other sources are leveraged. See budget section of the application.
  • Presence of partnerships with community based organizations, government agencies, service providers, and others when relevant to accomplishing your goals.
  • Likelihood to be completed by August 2017.

Eligible Applicants

The Trust welcomes requests from the following organizations:

  • State and local education agencies;
  • Private Nonprofit Organizations;
  • Faith-based Organizations;Community Associations;
  • Service, Youth, and Civic Groups;
  • Municipal, County, Regional, State, Federal Public Agencies;
  • Soil/Water Conservation Districts & Resource Conservation and Development Councils;
  • Public and Independent Primary, Intermediate, and Secondary Schools;
  • Public and Independent Higher Educational Institutions.

Funding Availability and Restrictions.

Applicants may request up to $15,000. Funding partners have made available approximately $50,000 - 60,000for this grant program.

This funding does NOT supportthe following:

  • Endowments, deficit financing, individuals, building campaigns, annual giving, research, fund raising or venture capital;
  • Mitigation or capital construction activities such as structural erosion control measures;
  • Political lobbying;
  • Reimbursement for a project that has been completed or materials that have been purchased;
  • Budget items that are considered secondary to the project’s central objective.
  • Promotional collateral such as pens, key-chains, t-shirts, etc.;

Projects must occur inthe Chesapeake Bay watershed portions of Maryland, Delaware, D.C., New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, or West Virginia.

Funding partners evaluate each proposal on a case by case basis and reserve the right to fund projects and budget items that advance their mission and meet their specific funding priorities and criteria.

Deadlines, Awards, and Notifications.

Program Deadline: March 3, 2016

Award Notification and Final Reports:

All applicants will receive an e-mailed letter stating the Trust’s decision. An application may be declined, partially awarded, or fully awarded. If approved, the Trust will send an e-mailed grant agreement letter with grant conditions and the due date of the final report. Grantees must sign, scan, and upload the grant agreement letter with original signatures to the online grant management system. If awarded funding, please allow a minimum of two weeks to receive your check (from the date the Trust receives the signed award letter in the online system). The Trust will mail the check to the applicant organization listed on the original online grant application form, following the Trust’s receipt of the signed grant agreement and the Trust’s receipt of documents satisfying anycontingencies listed in the grant agreement. When the project is complete, grantees are required to complete the final report form and budget expenditures spreadsheetavailable through the online grant management system.

Submitting Your Application

The Trust uses an online grants management system for the application process, and if awarded, grant management.As a result, you will need to register with the online grants management system with a username and password; if you have applied for a grant in the last year please use your existing username and password (if you have forgotten either of these please use the ‘forgot password’ feature). To apply for a grant go to the Trust website and click on the appropriate start a new online application link:

Applicants must submit proposals using our Online Grants System by 5:00 pm on March 3, 2016.

Late applications will not be accepted, and the online funding opportunity will close promptly at 5:00 pm. Applicants are strongly encouraged to submit at least a few days prior to the deadline given potential for high website traffic on the due date. The Trust cannot guarantee availability of Online Grant System technical assistance on the deadline date.

Contact .

For general questions about the application, contact:

Jamie Baxter at (410) 974-2941 ext. 105 or,

Shannon Sprague at (410)267-5664

Kevin Schabow at (410)295-3145

Online Proposal Instructions .

When completing the online application process, you will be asked for the following information:

Project Title: List the title of your project

Organization Information

1)Organization Name

2)Address

3)City, State, Zip

4)Phone

5)Mission of Organization

6)Organization Type

7)EIN Number

An Executive Officer and Project Lead must be identified for all proposals and must be different individuals. Both individuals must be staff or board members of the applicant organization. Individuals associated with for-profit entities to be engaged in the project cannot serve in either role.

Executive Officer of Requesting Organization:

1)Name

2)Title

3)Address

4)Phone

5)E-mail

Project Officer:

1)Name

2)Title

3)Address

4)Phone

5)E-mail

Grant Information:

1)Amount of Trust funding requested

2)Grant Period: enter project start and end dates

3)In which stream, river or watershed will the project be located? (For assistance click here)

4)In which county will the project be located?

Project Abstract:

You will be asked to provide a brief summary of the project, including details such as type of project, location, and main objectives, please limit the abstract to 100 words or less.

Project Timeline:

You will be asked to fill in a project timeline including major tasks and their associated start and end dates. You are limited to eight entries (though not required to use all eight), and are welcome to combine steps if necessary.

Project Deliverables:

You will be asked to fill in a number of project outputs, including number of students, teachers, square feet of rain garden, volunteers engaged, trees planted, etc. Please fill out only the project deliverables that apply to your project, leave the others (that are not applicable) blank.

Project Partnerships and Qualifications

You will be asked to enter into a table: project partner organizations; individuals; their areas of expertise; and their role(s) in your project. While not required, applicants are encouraged to upload a letter of support from each project partner outlining the partner’s role in the project; letters of support can be uploaded in the narrative file attachment section.

Project Narrative File Attachment

You will be asked to upload an MS Word or PDF file addressing the following questions: The narrative must not exceed 5 pages, be single spaced and use 11 point font or larger. Attachments are not included in the 5 page limit.

1)Describe succinctly the goals and objectives of the proposed program/project.

2)Provide a description of the proposed activities that will be completed in order to accomplish stated goals and objectives.

3)Describe how the activities proposed will permanently increase school division participation in sustainable school certification and recognition programs and build capacity among sustainable school programs in the targeted state and/or region.

Budget Upload

You will be asked to upload your budget using the Chesapeake Bay Trust Budget Form, an excel file template. Copies of the form can be obtained by visiting clicking on “Grants," then "Grant Forms", and downloading the file "Chesapeake Bay Trust Application Budget Form."

● For any staff cost requests, please list the percentage of overall time devoted to the project by each staff member in the budget item column.

● Be sure to see “Eligible Budget Items” section of Application Instructions above.

Budget Category Information

This section will ask applicants to enter budget category totals. These totals will have been automatically calculated in the Chesapeake Bay Trust Application Budget Form.

  • Personnel/Consultant Request Description & Additional Budget Justification: If personnel and/or contractual costs are requested, use the personnel/ consultant request description table to provide detailed information about the scope(s) of work. Err on the side of providing too much detail. You are limited to 5 entries. For additional tasks, use the Additional Budget Justification Box. Use the budget justification section to provide a budget narrative. The narrative should include, in addition to general budget justification information, (a) detailed justification for staff cost requests, if requested, including a specific scope of work, specific tasks, and hours associated with those tasks and (b) the source of any construction cost estimates. Staff cost requests that are not fully justified will not be funded.