The Department of Education (Department) is accepting applications for the 2023 Full-Service Community Schools (FSCS) program.
Donor Name: U.S. Department of Education
State: All States
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 07/07/2023
Size of the Grant: $50,000,000
Grant Duration: 60 months
Details:
The FSCS program is authorized by sections 4621– 4623 and 4625 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended (ESEA). This program provides support for the planning, implementation, and operation of full service community schools that improve the coordination, integration, accessibility, and effectiveness of services for children and families, particularly for children attending high poverty schools, including high-poverty rural schools.
Priorities
This notice contains five absolute priorities, two competitive preference priorities, and one invitational priority.
These priorities are:
- Absolute Priority 1—Title IA Schoolwide Program Eligibility.
- To meet this priority, applicants must propose to serve a minimum of two or more full-service community schools eligible for a schoolwide program (as defined in this notice) under section 1114(b) of the ESEA, as part of a community- or district-wide strategy.
- Absolute Priority 2—Title IA Schoolwide Program Eligibility and Rural Districts—Small and Rural or Rural and Low-Income
- To meet this priority, applicants must propose to: serve a minimum of two or more full-service community schools eligible for a schoolwide program under section 1114(b) of the ESEA, as part of a community- or district-wide strategy; and include an LEA that satisfies the requirements of the Small Rural School Achievement program (ESEA section 5211(b)(1)(A), (B), or (C)) or the Rural and Low-Income School program (ESEA section 5221(b)(1)(A), (B), or (C)).
- Absolute Priority 3—Capacity Building and Development Grants.
- To meet this priority, applicants must propose projects to (a) conduct initial development and coordination activities, including extensive community engagement, that leverage the findings of their needs assessment— which may be completed during or before the grant period—to develop the infrastructure, activities, and partnerships to implement full-service community schools in two or more schools, and (b) gather data on performance indicators.
- Absolute Priority 4—Multi-Local Educational Agency Grants.
- To meet this priority, applicants must propose projects to implement and sustain full-service community schools in two or more LEAs. As outlined in section 4622(1)(B) of the ESEA, an eligible entity for any FSCS grant is a consortium of one or more LEAs or the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) and one or more community-based organizations, nonprofit organizations, or other public or private entities. The project must, with the exception of LEAs that oversee a single school, coordinate and provide services at two or more full-service community schools in each LEA.
- Absolute Priority 5—FSCS State Scaling Grants.
- Applications submitted under Priority 5 must include a written commitment of the SEA to participate in the partnership and to sustain the program beyond 2 years after the term of the grant, which can be submitted in the required preliminary memorandum of understanding (MOU) that includes the roles and responsibilities of the SEA and other partners identified at the time of the application.
Competitive Preference Priorities
For FY 2023 and any subsequent year in which they make awards from the list of unfunded applications from this competition, these priorities are competitive preference priorities.
- Competitive Preference Priority 1
- Meeting Student Social, Emotional, and Academic Needs. (up to 5 points) Projects that are designed to improve students’ social, emotional, academic, and career development, with a focus on underserved students, through one or more of the following priority areas:
- Creating education or work-based settings that are supportive, positive, identity-safe, and inclusive with regard to race, ethnicity, culture, language, and disability status, through developing trusting relationships between students (including underserved students), educators, families, and community partners.
- Providing multi-tiered systems of supports that address learning barriers both in and out of the classroom, that enable healthy development and respond to students’ needs and which may include evidence-based trauma informed practices and professional development for educators on avoiding deficit-based approaches.
- Creating and implementing comprehensive schoolwide frameworks (such as small schools or learning communities, advisory systems, or looping educators) that support strong and consistent student and educator relationships.
- Meeting Student Social, Emotional, and Academic Needs. (up to 5 points) Projects that are designed to improve students’ social, emotional, academic, and career development, with a focus on underserved students, through one or more of the following priority areas:
- Competitive Preference Priority 2— Strengthening Cross-Agency Coordination and Community Engagement to Advance Systemic Change.
- The Secretary gives priority to projects that are designed to take a systemic evidence-based approach to improving outcomes for underserved students in coordinating efforts with Federal, State, or local agencies, or community-based organizations, that support students, to address community violence prevention and intervention.
Invitational Priority
For FY 2023 and any subsequent year in which they make awards from the list of unfunded applications from this competition, this is an invitational priority.
- This priority is:
- Supporting Effective Transition Practices, Continuity of Services and Supports, and Aligned Instruction for Students from Preschool and Other Early Childhood Settings into Kindergarten and from Kindergarten into the Early Grades (K–3).
Funding Information
- Estimated Available Funds: $74,000,000.
- Award Ceiling: $50,000,000
- Award Floor: $75,000
Project Period
UP to 60 months
Eligible Applicants
- State governments
- Special district governments
- County governments
- Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
- City or township governments
Additional Information on Eligibility
A consortium of–(a)(i) One or more LEAs; or (ii) The BIE; and (b) One or more community-based organizations, nonprofit organizations, or other public or private entities. A consortium must comply with the provisions governing group applications. Note: If you are a nonprofit organization, under 34 CFR 75.51, you may demonstrate your nonprofit status by providing:
- proof that the Internal Revenue Service currently recognizes the applicant as an organization to which contributions are tax deductible under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code;
- a statement from a State taxing body or the State attorney general certifying that the organization is a nonprofit organization operating within the State and that no part of its net earnings may lawfully benefit any private shareholder or individual;
- a certified copy of the applicant’s certificate of incorporation or similar document if it clearly establishes the nonprofit status of the applicant; or
- any item described above if that item applies to a State or national parent organization, together with a statement by the State or parent organization that the applicant is a local nonprofit affiliate.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
