- Summer meetings for new district Title I coordinators have been scheduled to provide guidance and technical assistance to district Title I staff with three years of experience or less. Agenda items will include requirements of the Title I program, monitoring processes, helpful resources and time to ask and get answers to questions. New Title I coordinators, district superintendents and finance officers are encouraged to attend. EILA credit will be awarded to attendees. Please register through this registration page. Email Tonia Hickman or call her at (502) 564-3791, ext. 4062 with any questions. Here are the dates and locations for the meetings (all meetings are 9 a.m.-4 p.m. local time):
- June 13 – Eddyville, West Kentucky Educational Cooperative Conference Center, 435 Outlet Ave.
- June 18 – Bowling Green, Green River Regional Educational Cooperative, 230 Technology Way
- June 21 – Shelbyville, Ohio Valley Educational Cooperative, 100 Alpine Drive
- June 27 – Ashland, Kentucky Educational Development Corporation, 904 Rose Road
- June 28 – London, Southeast/South-Central Educational Cooperative, London Training Center, 55 Waco Drive
- July 16 – Lexington, Kentucky Educational Development Corporation, 118 James Court, Suite 60
- The fiscal year 2020 Consolidated GMAP Application is now open and due June 3. Allocations in GMAP are preliminary for the 2019-2020 school year. Final allocations will be released in fall 2019 upon receipt of final notification from the U.S. Department of Education.
- Here is another special offer for new coordinators: If you need more support with GMAP or Title I, Part A in general, we invite you to meet with your consultant for individualized, one-on-one assistance. Email Jennifer Akin if you are interested in setting up an appointment.
- The Division of School and Program Improvement welcomed a new Title I consultant May 1. Erica Tipton will be reaching out to her districts to introduce herself soon.
Below are recommendations related to your Title I application, compiled in a list for easy reference.
- Be sure to consult with stakeholders in the development of the Title I plan (ESSA Section 1112(a)(1)(A)).
- Use resources provided on KDE’s Documents and Resources page and the GMAP Help for Current page to help with application requirements. Refer to the new KDE district set-aside guidance as well. Consulting these resources can help reduce errors and omissions before the application is submitted.
- If you need step-by-step assistance with the application, you can watch the updated five-part video series on GMAP, available on the Documents and Resources page. Or come to KDE and get one-on-one support or arrange a Skype call. Email Jennifer Akin to get started.
- Contact your Title I, Part A consultant if you have any questions. Steps 2-4 can help reduce issues before the application is submitted, which can help your application get approved faster.
- Submit your application on time (on or before June 3). Missing deadlines can add points to a district’s risk assessment and increase the likelihood of being selected for program monitoring.
- Submit revisions in a timely manner.
These steps can help you get your application approved faster. It is highly desirable to get the application approved as quickly as possible so funds will be available to spend. Remember, funds cannot be spent until the entire consolidated application is approved. Getting the application approved as quickly as possible will help ensure students can begin to benefit from them earlier. Keep in mind the funds are intended to be spent on the students in the current school year. For example, fiscal year 2020 funds should be spent on students in the 2019-2020 school year.
After your application is approved:
- Any Title I funds remaining from the previous year should be spent first (before spending FY20 funds) so they do not expire.
- Monitor spending to ensure school allocations and district set-asides are being spent throughout the year so students can benefit from the extra resources. Spending the funds throughout the year (as opposed to waiting late in the school year and spending them at once) shows good fiscal management.
- Keep your grant awards handy for reference. Grant awards are posted on the KDE Federal Grants webpage. The grant award contains important information such as the period of availability of funds, the award amount and the project number.
- Spend according to the approved application. Once your original application is approved, you can amend it at any time. There are some times when the application must be revised. For example, you will need to revise the application if
- You change the amount of funds set aside at the district level;
- There is a significant change in the type of activities supported by Title I;
- Misalignment occurs between GMAP and MUNIS;
- A change is made to a school’s allocation; or
- Funds are reallocated.
After making revisions, you’ll need to resubmit the application so it can go back through the review and approval process.
Periodically align GMAP and MUNIS by making revisions in GMAP and journal entries in MUNIS to make sure they match. It is important to have a process in place to review and align the budgets in these systems and expenditures.
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