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Grant Funds to be Awarded for Hurricane Recovery

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May 9, 2018

TO THE ADMINISTRATOR ADDRESSED:

SUBJECT: Grant Funds to be Awarded for Hurricane Recovery

TEA is preparing to issue three federal grants to aid students and schools affected by the 2017 hurricanes. Though TEA is still awaiting final guidelines and requirements for these grants, the funds must be distributed on a very tight timeline. As a result, the application processes for these grants will require quick responses from applicants.

Data Collection Required

For TEA to award hurricane recovery funds to local educational agencies (LEAs), additional data will need to be collected from all school districts, open-enrollment charter schools, and private nonprofit schools (PNPs) that were affected by the hurricanes.

TEA commends ESCs and LEAs for their work to ensure that all students who were displaced and/or identified as homeless due to a hurricane in 2017 were properly coded through crisis codes 5A, 5B, 5C and the TSDS PEIMS Homeless Indicator Code (when applicable). However, TEA did not collect the crisis code data in the exact timeline and manner USDE is requiring for these grant programs. Therefore, we are required to collect additional student count data. This data collection will be the 2017-2018 Hurricane Relief Grant Application Part 1.

2017-2018 Hurricane Relief Grant Part 1 Now Available

On Monday, May 7, 2018, TEA posted Part 1 of the hurricane relief grant application process that will collect the number of students displaced and the number of homeless students displaced in school year 2017-2018 because of a qualifying disaster. Eligible applicants are any LEA, and in some cases private nonprofit schools, that enrolled students displaced by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, or Maria or the 2017 California wildfires.

The application Part 1 is available on the TEA Grant Opportunities web page by selecting ‘2017-2018 Hurricane Relief Grant Part 1’ from the drop-down menu. The application is available through an electronic form that can be completed, signed, and submitted online. The deadline for submitting the Part 1 application is Tuesday, May 15, 2018. This deadline is set by USDE and TEA has limited flexibility for accepting late applications.

This application Part 1 establishes eligibility and funding for the following two grant programs.

  • Temporary Emergency Impact Aid for Displaced Students
  • Assistance for Homeless Children and Youth

Temporary Emergency Impact Aid for Displaced Students Grant (EIA)

EIA grants will supply funds to eligible LEAs for the cost of educating disaster-displaced students during the 2017–2018 school year.  To count the student as displaced, the student 1) had to be enrolled at least a week before August 25, 2017, in an LEA or private nonprofit (PNP) school in one of the 254 LEAs identified in the Presidential Disaster Declaration, and 2) have enrolled in a different school in 2017-2018 (even within the same LEA). Students meeting the definitions of crisis codes 5A, 5B, and 6 will closely meet the federal definition of a displaced student.

Part 2 of the EIA grant application will consist of budgetary and uses of funds information and will be released to LEAs after USDE awards the EIA funds to the state.

Displaced Students Enrolled in Private Nonprofit Schools for EIA Grants
School districts also will need to collect and report disaster-displaced student counts from PNPs within their boundaries. TEA encourages all school districts to immediately notify the PNPs within their boundaries about this data collection effort and potential grant funds.

The school district will need to collect all parent application forms and PNP certification forms to report those student counts in the 2017-2018 Hurricane Relief Grant Part 1 application.

Unique Process for PNPs receiving EIA Grant Funds
Parents of displaced students enrolled in a PNP will be required to submit an application to the school district to request EIA grant funds to be provided to the PNP where their child is enrolled.  The school district will then need to verify with the PNP that those students were enrolled in the PNP prior to February 9, 2018. The Parent Application for Emergency Impact Aid form to be completed by the parents of displaced students attending PNPs also is available on the TEA Grant Opportunities web page.
Once the EIA grant is awarded to the school district, the district is required to issue payments to the PNP for each eligible student within 14 days. This is the only federal grant program where the school district will send grant funds to a participating PNP.

Assistance for Homeless Children and Youth Grants (HCY)

HCY grants will provide funds to eligible LEAs to serve disaster-displaced students during the 2017–2018 school year who were also homeless due to the disaster. The allowable uses of these grant funds will be any allowable activity under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act.

Part 2 of the HCY grant application will consist of budgetary and uses of funds information and will be released to LEAs after USDE awards the HCY funds to the state.

PNP schools are not eligible for services under the HCY grant.

Immediate Aid to Restart School Operations (Restart)

The Restart grant program is to assist LEAs and PNP schools with expenses related to the restart of elementary schools and secondary schools in the 254 LEAs located in the counties included in the Presidential Disaster Declaration. TEA has already submitted the state’s grant application to USDE using data previously collected through the school closure and student crisis code data. The state was awarded $89,420,000 in Restart grant funds on April 30, 2018.

PNPs who are eligible for Restart grants will apply directly to TEA for services. The school district is only expected to disseminate the Restart grant application information to the PNPs located within its boundaries. TEA will then arrange for equitable services to the PNP through the regional education service center who will manage the Restart grant funds for the PNPs. The school district is not required to provide consultation or equitable services to the PNPs.

The grant application is expected to be released to LEAs and PNPs on or around May 18, 2018.

For Further Information

With any questions about the upcoming federal aid for schools and students affected by the 2017 disasters, please contact the Department of Contracts, Grants and Financial Administration at grantapplications@tea.texas.gov or (512) 463-8992.

Sincerely,


Cory Green, Associate Commissioner
Department of Contracts, Grants and Financial Administration

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