Good morning. Thank you for attending today’s technical assistance webinar on the Unified School Improvement Grant (UniSIG). My name is Melissa Ramsey, and I am the Executive Director of the Bureau of School Improvement. Joining me today is Amanda Meeks, School Improvement Specialist.

We will be sharing a great deal of information today, and we hope to answer all of the questions you may have regarding the UniSIG process. As we proceed throughout the webinar, you may have a question. For clarity, we are asking that all questions be submitted in writing to the Bureau of School Improvement to ensure that everyone receives the same information. Feel free to write your questions in the appropriate section on your screen. As much as possible, we will answer all questions at the conclusion of this webinar. We will also post all questions, responses and this PowerPoint presentation in CIMS after the webinar.

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Our objectives today include the following:

- Explain the goals and objectives of the UniSIG program- Review the Request for Application (RFA)- Define UniSIG application requirements at the district and school level- Connect the School Improvement Plan (SIP) budget with initiatives

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The goals and objectives of UniSIG are to serve students attending Title I schools identified for targeted or comprehensive support and improvement based on the 2018 school grades release; students attending any public high school regardless of Title I status that has a four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate of 67 percent or less based on the most recently released data (2016-17).

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The funding authority for this grant is found in section 1003 of Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).

The enactment and implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) resulted in these two grant programs (1003a and 1003g) being merged beginning with the 2017-18 school year.

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Here is the per-pupil allocation formula: for the 2018-19 school year, all funds under the UniSIG program will be awarded on a per-pupil allocation (PPA) basis of up to $475 per student with additional funds awarded to Title I and non-Title I high schools with a graduation rate of 67 percent or less. 93% funding would allocate $441.75 per student. This is significantly higher than the rates from 2017-18 UniSIG, which ranged from $374 to $400.

Only those schools that were Title I during the 2017-18 school year and earned a school grade of D or F are eligible for the per-pupil allocation formula.

Allocations are subject to change based on the final school grade list, which will be released in the coming days.

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To provide support for improving the graduation rate at high schools graduating 67 percent or less of students, allocations will be based on the Survey 3 Preliminary count as follows:

- High schools with 500 or more students will receive $50,000 - High schools with 100 – 499 students will receive $35,000 and- High schools with less than 100 students will receive $10,000

This funding is also significantly higher than the maximum allocation for last year’s graduation support, which was $35,000.

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This slide details some of the important request for application highlights for UniSIG.

Notification to School Improvement Contacts was sent July 9, 2018.

The budget period will begin from September 1, 2018 and end on August 31, 2019.

The application deadline is Friday, August 3, 2018.

The funding method will be federal cash advance.

The district application is located in CIMS and titled UniSIG 2018-19.

Schools must complete a school budget in their SIP tagging UniSIG for the funding source in CIMS. Schools can complete either the Standard or Pilot SIP.

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Goals identified in the Standard SIP and Areas of Focus identified in the Pilot SIP that have associated budget lines must be tagged UniSIG.

Complete each school’s individual UniSIG budget located within their SIP for district review.

After the school budgets are pre-approved by the district, the district will submit a DOE 100A with the requested district total.

BSI will review the district request by reviewing each school’s UniSIG budget.

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This screenshot is from Section 5. the budget section of the new Pilot SIP which shows where schools can apply the UniSIG tag to certain budget items using the dropdown menu.

Both the Pilot SIP and the Standard SIP will allow schools to tag specific budget items to UniSIG in this way.

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Charter schools must follow a different application procedure. A separate webinar will be held for charter schools through the Office of Independent Education and Parental Choice.

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Now let’s go over some important UniSIG application components. The eligible schools and allocations will be pre-populated on the application.

Please note the following key assurances:

-100 percent of funds (less indirect and administrative costs) must be allocated to eligible schools.

-Strategies outlined in the SIP , with associated UniSIG budget lines, may be funded by UniSIG.

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This is a list of examples of unallowable expenses:

Lowest 300 activities

Furniture

Field Trips

Meals, refreshments or snacks

End-of-year celebrations, parties or socials

Out-of-state travel without FDOE pre-approval

Incentives (e.g., plaques, trophies, stickers, t-shirts, give-a-ways)

Decorations

Advertisement, Promotional or marketing items (e.g., flags, banners)

Capital improvements and permanent renovations (e.g., playgrounds, buildings, fences, wiring)

Clothing or uniforms

Costs for items or services already covered by indirect costs allocation

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- Districts may allocate a portion of each school’s budget for indirect and for approved administrative costs.

BSI has new recommendations and guidance to assist districts with administrative costs of administering and monitoring the UniSIG grant.

-For the 2018-19 school year, districts may fund reasonable grant administration by requesting that each eligible school allocates up to 5% for administration of the UniSIG grant.

We have posted in CIMS a district’s allocation chart identifying the maximum amount allowable for grant administration costs. This cost must also include benefits. The grant administration must be identified in each of the eligible schools budgets (with the UniSIG tag) and must be requested in the initial application. The total in each school’s UniSIG budget must not exceed 5%.

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- Deliverables will be collected and monitored through a FDOE ShareFile system.

- Additional monitoring may be desktop or on-site, districts will be contacted in advance.

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See slide

All amendments require submission of a Project Amendment Request (DOE150) and a Budget Amendment Narrative Form (DOE151), if applicable, using the following protocol:

Submit proposed amendment(s) to the Bureau of School Improvement (BSI) at bsi@fldoe.org for feedback.

When notified by BSI that the proposed amendment meets the criteria for the preliminary programmatic review process, the district may obtain superintendent’s signature and mail a signed hard copy of the amendment to the Office of Grants Management (OGM) for initial review.

Please ensure the amendment meets the Reasonable, Allowable, and Necessary criteria and does not change the original Scope of Work.

Now, here is an example of a multiple schools amendment request. Please notice that each school is subtotal by school and then rolls up to the total district amendment amount.

This ensure that each schools awarded allocation amount do not become co-mingled.

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The requirements shown here must be met for the application to be considered for review:

-The district UniSIG 2018-19 survey is completed and submitted in CIMS by 5PM EST on Friday, August 3, 2018.

-The UniSIG budget is completed in the SIP and locked in CIMS by 5PM EST on Friday, August 3, 2018.

-The original, signed DOE100A from CIMS is received in the Office of Grants Management by 5PM EST on Friday, August 3, 2018, and delivered as a hard copy to this address.

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Due to time constraints, we will only be able to take a few questions through the GotoMeeting question feature at this time.

If you have questions we are unable to answer today, please send them to BSI@fldoe.org.

Thank you for joining us today. We look forward to working with each of you as you support school improvement efforts in your districts and schools.

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