Summary:

The purpose of this program is to increase the capacity of states to support high-need local educational agencies (LEAs) and schools in leveraging other available federal, state, and local resources to improve school facilities and environments through public school infrastructure improvements, to ensure that their public school facilities are safe, healthy, sustainable, and equitable learning environments for all students. In order to be considered for funding, proposed projects must meet one of the program's absolute priorities, which are:

• Building capacity of state educational agency (SEA): projects must increase the SEA's capacity to support high-need LEAs and provide technical assistance to those LEAs regarding how to leverage available resources to assess infrastructure needs and how to make public school infrastructure improvements in their highest-need public schools
• Building capacity of a state entity other than the SEA: projects, in collaboration with the SEA, must increase the applicant's capacity to support high-need LEAs and provide technical assistance to those LEAs regarding how to leverage available resources to assess infrastructure needs and how to make public school infrastructure improvements in their highest-need public schools

Projects must include the following activities:

• Within one year of receiving the award, complete a needs assessment of high-need LEAs, and incorporate the findings into the applicant's logic model and annual reporting
• Develop or improve state and local data and information systems management related to public school infrastructure
• Evaluate the current state-level public school infrastructure funding systems and make recommendations that would ensure systems provide all students access to a safe, healthy, sustainable, and equitable learning environment
• Establish or improve statewide systems for training LEA officials responsible for public school infrastructure or public school infrastructure improvements
• Engage in activities necessary to plan the project period and evaluate impact
• Provide technical assistance to high-need LEAs
• Build the capacity of the SEA and state entity staff, as applicable, by engaging in professional development on topics related to public school infrastructure and sustainability

Funding may also be used for activities including:

• Conducting facility conditions assessments for high-need LEAs
• Supporting high-need LEAs in developing sustainable financing models and partnerships
• Supporting high-need LEAs in long-term infrastructure planning
• Reviewing and updating state standards, policies, procedures, regulations, or codes related to school infrastructure and providing related technical assistance to high-need LEAs
• Providing technical assistance to high-need LEAs on planning and implementing public school infrastructure improvements that advance environmental sustainability and climate resiliency
• Collaborating and coordinating with related federal, state, and local organizations, and school-based efforts, to increase state capacity to support LEAs in the areas of public school infrastructure and sustainability
• Allocate or hire at least one full-time employee to administer and implement the activities outlined in the application

Applications will receive additional consideration if they meet the program's competitive preference priority by demonstrating that the applicant currently has low or no administrative capacity to support LEAs in its state in assessing facility conditions or making school infrastructure improvements.

Eligible expenses may fall under the categories of personnel, fringe benefits, travel, equipment, supplies, contractual expenses, other direct costs, or indirect costs.

An optional pre-application webinar is expected to be scheduled for this program. Refer to the Application section for details.

Last Updated: August 05, 2024