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To: Superintendents, Principals, K-12 Public Information Officers, Education Partners, Private Schools, Business Managers, Title I-C Coordinators, Title III Coordinators, Title IX Coordinators, Title VI Coordinators, Charter School Leaders, EGMS External Users 2025, and EGMS Subgrant Contacts 2025
From: Amber Forster, ODE Chief Financial Officer
Date: June 17, 2025
Re: ODE is Modernizing its Grant Management System
Dear Education Partners,
We are excited to share more about the Oregon Department of Education’s (ODE) next steps to transition to a modernized Grant Management System (GMS). Not only will the system support better monitoring, allow document uploads, support direct communications to grantees, and allow all components of grant management to live in one place, we anticipate over time the system will improve customer service by streamlining processes and ensuring greater reportability and transparency.
A Three-Phased Approach
The work is happening in a three-phased approach to transition each component of ODE’s grant management into the new system. ODE’s priority is to move the functionality that users currently see in EGMS into the new system during the fall of 2025. Staff have been involved in rigorous testing to ensure that our financial processes, grantmaking best practices, and all relevant regulations are upheld.
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Phase 1: (May 2024 - Fall 2025) - Transition ODE's current claims processing and payment system for grants from EGMS to ODE’s new GMS platform.
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Phase 2: (May 2024 - November 2027) - Transition the Child Nutrition Programs financial system (CNPWeb) to the new GMS platform.
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Phase 3: (Early 2026 – September 2027) - Transition ODE’s federal grant narrative collection system (CIP Budget Narrative) and end-to-end grant activities (currently done through Smartsheet, Google Forms, Word docs, etc.) into the new GMS platform.
Background
Since 2004, ODE has been using the internally-developed EGMS to manage the claim submittal and approval interface for grantmaking. Child Nutrition Programs (CNP) and federal Title programs have also relied on the aging CNPWeb and CIP Budget Narrative platforms to meet increasingly stringent regulations. These applications have been augmented with Smartsheets, email-based processes, and other solutions over the years for application screening and monitoring. These disparate, aging systems brought forth the need for a new, all-encompassing grant management solution. In 2020, ODE began searching for a system to replace EGMS and the other legacy databases that support grants. ODE selected Agate Software to build this platform and started working with the vendor in 2024.
Upcoming Training & Supporting You
We recognize that this change will impact how you claim and process grants. Details regarding training opportunities, instructional manuals, and workflows in the new system, as well as sequencing of financial year-end close-outs, will be provided as we get closer to implementation. The Agate and ODE teams are committed to making this transition as easy as possible for users.
We ask for your grace and patience as we enter this new phase of education grant management. ODE staff will continue to work closely with Agate throughout the transition to ensure that program, fiscal, and data needs are met.
Contact Us
Please submit any questions you may have via the Grant Management System Replacement Question Form.
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