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Virginia Department of Education's Superintendent of Public Instruction Issues Memo Regarding 2014-2015 School Security Equipment Grants Program...(Targeted News Service Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Virginia Department of Education's Superintendent of Public Instruction Issues Memo Regarding 2014-2015 School Security Equipment Grants Program Application RICHMOND, Va., June 20 -- The Virginia Department of Education's Superintendent of Public Instruction issued the following Superintendent's memo: TO: Division Superintendents FROM: Steven R. Staples, Superintendent of Public Instruction SUBJECT: 2014-2015 School Security Equipment Grants Program Application The Virginia Public School Authority closed on the issuance of $6.0 million in Notes to fund the School Security Equipment Grant program for the 2014-2015 school year on May 22, 2014. The 2014-2015 grants will be awarded on a competitive basis and school divisions are eligible to receive grant awards up to $100,000. Grant applications must be submitted to the Department of Education by August 1, 2014, in order to apply for these funds. The guidelines for this program are available in Attachment A and the 2014-2015 grant application is available in Attachment B in .pdf format. A fillable Word version of the application for submission to the Department is available for down-load on the DOE Web site at: http://doe.virginia.gov/support/facility_construction/security_equipment_grants/index.shtml. School divisions will be notified of the 2014-2015 grant awards by September 1, 2014, and must purchase the funded security equipment within six months of the notification of the grant award, or by March 1, 2015. Grant funds will be provided on a reimbursement basis only. In order to support the installation of school security equipment during the summer months and to expedite the spend-down of these Notes funds, effective with the 2014-2015 grants, school divisions and regional programs may apply for grants to reimburse school security equipment expenditures beginning on or after May 22, 2014. Such projects must otherwise meet all existing program guidelines, application criteria, and only approved projects will be reimbursed. Eligibility Requirements School divisions are required to use these funds to purchase security equipment that will be installed in eligible schools. The grants cannot be used to pay for security equipment that is not included or described in the grant application. The school must be scheduled to remain open for at least five more years and there be no planned renovations/additions scheduled for the next five years which would cause the security equipment being requested to become obsolete. Local Match Requirement In order for a school division to receive a grant, a local match of 25 percent of the grant amount is required. The Superintendent of Public Instruction is authorized to reduce the local match for school divisions with a composite index of local ability-to-pay less than 0.2000, including any such school division participating in a regional vocational center, special education center, alternative education center, or academic year Governor's School. The Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind is exempt from the match requirement. Reimbursement Process A Request for Reimbursement form must be completed and submitted with documentation showing the school name, purchases made, and total cost of the qualifying equipment purchased for which reimbursement is being requested. The completed form must be submitted to the Department of Education, Office of Support Services, for approval. Awarded grant funds will be maintained and disbursed from accounts administered by the State Non-Arbitrage Program (SNAP) under the Virginia Public School Authority. Once the reimbursement request is approved, written certification will be sent to SNAP to make the reimbursement payment. SNAP will make the payment within 30 days of receipt of the certification. School divisions, including eligible regional programs, interested in submitting an application for these competitive grant funds must do so by August 1, 2014. If you have questions, please contact the Office of Support Services at (804) 225-2035 or (804) 225-2037. You may e-mail the following individuals if you have questions: [email protected], [email protected], or [email protected]. SRS:JFE:cle Attachments: A Guidelines for School Divisions Applying to the School Security Equipment Grants Program (http://www.doe.virginia.gov/administrators/superintendents_memos/2014/163-14a.pdf) B Application for 2014-2015 School Security Equipment Grants Program - Due Date: August 1, 2014 (http://www.doe.virginia.gov/administrators/superintendents_memos/2014/163-14b.docx) CC AutoTriage16JkN-140621-30FurigayJane-4774514 30FurigayJane (c) 2014 Targeted News Service |