RFP Number: TA-09
School Innovation Fund Grant (SIF) Round 2
Announcement of Funding Opportunity
RECENT UPDATES
Questions and Answers (110 kb) - POSTED July 5, 2012
Informational Webinar – This pre-recorded informational webinar reviews the purpose and key aspects of the School Innovation Fund Grant. POSTED June 29, 2012
Informational Webinar Video from June 29, 2012: Windows Media File (.WMV) (602 MB, 49 minutes)
Informational Webinar Slides from June 29, 2012 (66 kb)
PURPOSE
The purposes of the School Innovation Fund are to increase high school graduation, college and career readiness of high school graduates, college persistence, and college graduation rates by increasing the availability of new high quality seats for students at most risk for dropout, disengagement, and poor academic performance.
ELIGIBILITY* REQUIREMENTS
Local education agencies (LEAs) containing schools that are identified in the NYSED differentiated accountability system as Priority Schools, that are not receiving 1003g-School Improvement Grant (SIG) funds, are eligible to apply for a School Innovation Fund Grant. LEAs can access the listing of preliminary identified Priority Schools, as proposed in New York's Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) waiver to the US Department of Education (USED), by e-mailing the Department at SIFGRANT@mail.nysed.gov. It is the Department's expectation that the Priority Schools list will be finalized and released by July 15, 2012. In addition, the local education agency housing these schools must be engaged in an eligible partnership and in proposing a whole-school redesign. An eligible LEA must submit a separate application for each eligible school within the district for which it desires a grant. (Schools that are currently receiving a SIF-Round 1 grant are not eligible to receive a SIF-2 grant). LEAs are limited to a maximum of six (6) awards. A single 2.5-year award may not exceed $2,500,000.
*The State Education Department does not discriminate on the basis of age, color, religion, creed, disability, marital status, veteran status, national origin, race, gender, genetic predisposition or carrier status, or sexual orientation in its educational programs, services and activities. Portion of any publication designed for distribution can be made available in a variety of formats, including Braille, large print or audiotape, upon request. Inquiries regarding this policy of nondiscrimination should be directed to the Department’s Office for Diversity, Ethics, and Access, Room 530, Education Building, Albany, NY 12234.
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS
Applicants must submit a district-wide or identified Priority School Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR) plan to the Commissioner by August 15, 2012. In the case of unresolved collective bargaining negotiations, the district will submit the plan as soon as practicable thereafter. The APPR plan must be submitted with sufficient time to be approved by NYSED before close of business on December 31, 2012. To allow sufficient time (a minimum of 6 weeks), the APPR plan must be submitted for review no later than November 13, 2012. Award and release of grant funds is contingent upon a confirmed approved APPR plan. If an LEA that scores high enough to receive an award does not have an APPR plan approved by the Commissioner by December 31, 2012, the application will be rejected and will not receive funding under this RFP.
FUNDING
Estimated funds available:
$27,000,000 over 2.5 years
Estimated number of awards:
10-12
* Awards will be made subject to the availability of funding by the US Department of Education
APPLICATION DEADLINE AND SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
LEAs should submit a Letter of Intent (LOI) designating the specific identified schools for which applications will be submitted. The LOI should be emailed to SIFGRANT@mail.nysed.gov and received by July 18, 2012. (Note: The LOI is not a requirement for submitting a complete application by the application due date. NYSED encourages all prospective applicants to submit an LOI in order to ensure appropriate resources are available for a timely and thorough review and rating process.)
Complete applications must be submitted electronically through the Review Room portal available at the following link:
http://nysed-sif2rfp.myreviewroom.com. Instructions for submission through this portal are available at:
http://nysed-sif2rfp.myreviewroom.com. If there are any technical questions regarding electronic submission through the Review Room portal, please contact Alice Roberson, Project Coordinator, Performance Management Office, at (51
486-2449.
In addition, one original application plus one hardcopy must be mailed by postal service to:
New York State Education Department
Contracts Administration Unit, 505 W EB
89 Washington Ave
Albany, New York 12234
Attn: Lynn Caruso, RFP # TA-09
Complete hardcopy applications must be postmarked by August 15, 2012, and electronic copies must be submitted through the portal no later than 3:00pm, on August 15, 2012.
APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS
By going to the website
https://nysed-sif2rfp.myreviewroom.com/, you will be able to create your application account. Click “Sign Up” on the right hand side of the landing page and you will be sent to the account creation page. Once you have created your account, you will receive an email confirmation with instructions.
Once you have created your account, you will be directed to your main dashboard where you may find additional instructions if provided by the ReviewRoom Administrator as well as any tasks that you need to complete in order to submit your application. You will be able to sign in and out of the room as much or as little as desired.
To log back into your account in the future, go to
https://nysed-sif2rfp.myreviewroom.com/, and sign in using the email address and the password you (previously) created.
If any additional resources and/or information about the application process have been provided, you may access these resources with a click on the “Resources” link in the upper right hand corner of your main dashboard.
To complete a task, you must simply click on it and the task will open for you. From there, you will upload the required documents. Once you have completed a task, you may preview your submission or download it for your files.
Once you have completed all of the required tasks you must click on the Submit button at the bottom of the page to have your application sent onto the review panel. Here, you may also download the entire document for your files.
PROJECT PERIOD
Initial project period (preparation phase) will be January 1, 2013, to June 30, 2013
The implementation phases will be July 1, 2013, to June 30, 2014; and July 1, 2014, to June 30, 2015
Grant awards will include a NYSED option for a 1-year extension
A separate FS-10 budget and updated work plan must be submitted and approved by NYSED for each year of the project period. An FS-10, 3-Year Budget Summary, and detailed 3-year budget narrative (that details line-by-line expenses for each year of the project), must be submitted with this application.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Webinar Information: This pre-recorded informational webinar reviews the purpose and key aspects of the School Innovation Fund Grant - Round 2:
Windows Media File (.WMV): Informational Webinar (602 MB, 49 minutes)
Informational Webinar Slides from June 29, 2012 (66 kb)
Questions about this Request for Proposals (RFP) must be received no later than July 2, 2012, to: SIFGRANT@mail.nysed.gov, and should not include technical questions related to submission of the application through the Review Room portal. Questions regarding submission through the portal can be posed any time prior to or on August 15, but must be asked by calling Alice Roberson, (51
486-2449, and must not be sent by email.
Questions and Answers, not including technical questions related to submission through the electronic portal, will be posted by July 9, 2012, with this RFP at
http://usny.nysed.gov/rttt/rfp/home.html. No individual responses will be provided.
RFP DOCUMENTS
RFP TA-09 Document in PDF (515 KB)
RFP TA-09 Document in Word (1,055 KB)
RFP TA-09 Application Instructions in PDF (22 KB)
Original RFP Posting Date: June 12, 2012