BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS DETAILED GRANT PROCEDURES

1. Grant Development

2. Grant Managment

1. GRANT DEVELOPMENT

All BPS staff, parents and partners are encouraged to learn about grant opportunities and to apply for grants from a variety of sources.   Schools receive notices about grant opportunities on a regular basis, and are welcome to seek more information in the Development Office's catalogs, books and examples of successful letters of inquiry and grant applications.   Schools may arrange for grant writing workshops and assistance by calling the Development Office 635-9700.

For best results, grant development should be a team process so that those who will have responsibility for implementing the grant program are involved in planning.   Headmasters, principals and other administrative heads must approve grant proposals for programs that will take place under their supervision.   Headmasters, principals and other administrative heads must inform their supervisors in advance about their grant development activities to ensure that the whole organization is informed and the instructional focus is maintained.   To ensure coordination of effort, please keep the Development Office informed about your plans to apply for grant funding from any source.

 A. Overview: The steps in the grants development process are:

•  Request for proposals (RFP) – the funding source publishes a notice about a grant opportunity.

•  Inquiry – someone calls the funding source and gets more information about the opportunity, checks with supervisors, and rounds up support.

•  Decision - The headmasters, principal and other administrative head checks with the Development Office to find out if the grant is open for application.   Generally, a local or regional foundation or corporate opportunity will be open, and is almost always open if the source will accept more than one application from the district. Most national foundation opportunities, such as Gates or Broad, are open to districts rather than schools. State and federal grant opportunities are open only to the district. Schools that wish to participate in a state or federal grant application should call the Development Office and ask to be part of the planning process.

•  Proposal development – a team agrees on a plan that will meet the funding source's requirements, a supervisor approves the plan and a writer prepares a proposal and a budget.   If using technology, involve the Office of Instructional Technology .

•  Proposal submission – the proposal is submitted to the Development Office for approval by the Superintendent and submitted to the funding source by the deadline set by the funding source.

•  Grant award – the funding source decides to award the grant and sends an award notice to the contact person identified in the proposal.

•  Set Up an Account – The contact person brings the award letter to the Development Office and learns how to set up an account either with the city or in BEDF. Schools and offices can't receive money directly. BPS does the accounting either through PeopleSoft for state and federal grants or BEDF for foundation and corporate grants or individual gifts. Grants and gifts may not be placed in school activity accounts.

•  Spend the Grant – the school or office uses the money to carry out a program or project during the time allotted by the funding source. Positions are filled, people are paid, goods and services are bought, the money is used for the purposes for which it was awarded

•  Report on the Grant – the school or office responsible for the grant is responsible for collecting data about the activities and results of the grant program and reporting to the funding source.

•  Sustaining grant funded programs - successful programs can be sustained by moving some or all elements to GSP or other funding or by obtaining another grant.   There is no guarantee of sustainability.

2. GRANT MANAGEMENT

A. Preparing to Implement a Grant – BEFORE AWARD NOTICE
Grant periods are short (usually less than a year from time of receipt of an award) and interrupted by vacations. When an initiator of a grant application is reasonably sure of receiving an award, he or she should begin the following paperwork:

B. Preparing to Implement a Grant – UPON AWARD
Notices of state and federal awards are generally sent to the Superintendent, then forwarded to the Development Office and the initiator of the grant. At times, a funding source will communicate directly with the initiator, who is usually listed as the contact person for the grant.

Notices of foundation, corporate and individual awards are generally sent to the headmaster/;principal or other grant initiator who must then take the initiative to call the Development Office to set up an account with BEDF.

Upon receipt of notice, the grant initiator should:

C. Authorizing grants transactions for state and federal grants
Responsibility for grant transactions is the same as responsibility for General School Purposes (GSP) transactions, i.e., grant transactions must be authorized by the Responsibility Center Manager to whom the funds are budgeted.

D. ESTABLISHING A GRANT ACCOUNT FOR A STATE OR FEDERAL GRANT
Documentation package required to establish a grant account has four parts:
1. A full, complete copy of the grant proposal including the budget approved by the funding source.
2. The original official award notice (available in the Development Office).
3. A copy of the School Committee’s vote to accept the grant (available in the Development Office).
4. A completed Budget Create/adjust/Transfer Form - forms available in the Budget Office.
On or about June 1st, estimated budgets for expected grants will be loaded into PeopleSoft, the City’s integrated accounting system. Once loaded, the grants will be inactive until receipt of the award letter. The process to activate the continuing grants and to establish a new account are the same:
Fund managers should make an appointment with Anita Phillip in the Budget Office, 635-9573, to prepare the documentation package. Items 34, the transfer form, will be completed by the Budget Office and must be signed by the Development Office and the Chief Financial Officer and will be submitted to the City Auditor’s Office by Anita Phillip. A copy of the completed package will be sent to the fund manager, and file copies will be kept by the Development and Budget Offices for auditing purposes.

F. MAINTAINING A STATE OR FEDERAL GRANT ACCOUNT
Designated fund managers are responsible for ensuring that grant funds are fully expended for the approved purposes within the term of the grant. Expending the grant will involve:                   A. Obtaining position control numbers for approved positions – Position Control numbers are issued at the time the grant account is established on the signature of the Fund Manager.       B. Posting and filling positions – See Deputy Superintendent’s Memoranda concerning Personnel. Signature of Responsibility Center Manager(s) required.
C. Requisitioning and goods and services - – See Deputy Superintendent’s Memoranda concerning Business. Signature of Responsibility Center Manager(s) required.
D. Maintaining records of expenditures by expense code; i.e., keeping records of payroll and of all requisitions, purchase orders and contracts.
E. Maintaining inventory records. All equipment that costs $5,000 or more purchased with grant funds must be clearly marked by the Fund Manager to show the name and number of the grant, and inventory records must be kept by the Fund Manager by grant name and number to show price, location, and description of equipment.
F. Monitoring budget and expenditure records to ensure that the grant is appropriately charged, The Business and Budget Offices mail Expenditure Control reports monthly to Responsibility Center Managers and Fund Managers, who are responsible for reviewing the reports for accuracy and requesting changes from the Budget Office for incorrect budget entries and from the Business Office for incorrect expenditures (incorrect expenditures are ones not authorized by the RCM).
G. Managing lag funds – Fund managers must prepare Lag Fund Reports as requested by the Budget Office to ensure that if spending plans change, appropriate transfers are requested on a timely basis so that grant funds are correctly and fully expended before the end of the grant period.
Where errors or omissions occur in accounting, a DEBIT TRANSFER must be prepared to move the expenditure from the incorrect to the correct account. Debit Transfers require this documentation:
PAYROLL MISCHARGES: Record of employee earnings, available on request from the Payroll department of the Business Office. Provide employee name and social security number. NON-SALARY MISCHARGES: Transaction record available by vendor, purchase order, and expense code from the Accounting Department of the Business Office. Provide grant code and expense code(s) to Martha Ayure 617-635-9466.

CARRY FORWARD - BPS does not allow carry forward for any continuing grants except federal competitive grants, and may limit carry forward in federal competitive grants. Fund managers should plan to spend their entire annual grant amount during the appropriate grant period. DO NOT PLAN ON CARRYING FORWARD FUNDS from one year to the next.

From time to time, budgets need to be revised or amended in order to spend the entire grant. Budget changes, which are called transfers, are made through Anita Phillip of the Budget Office. The state may restrict the number of transfers and will not permit transfers within 45 days of the close of a grant. Fund Managers are responsible for preparing the following parts of a request for a transfer:

I. CLOSING ACCOUNTS
Fund Managers are responsible for closing grant accounts within 90 days of the end date of the grant. Closing means liquidating all encumbrances, transferring remaining balances in each line item to the contracts line and invoicing to return any unspent balance to the state or federal government. The end date of federal grants (other than annual entitlement grants may be extended on written request which should be made through the Budget Department. For assistance, see Frank Gorskil of the Budget Department. Close out steps are:
1. Obtain PeopleSoft printouts as of the close of the grant’s fiscal year from
Frank Gorski or work on-line (workshops provided at intervals)
2. Liquidate encumbrances, i.e., amounts of money left when the final cost expenditure was less than the amount originally encumbered to cover the expense; by submitting the purchase order and a note requesting the release of the encumbrance to Martha Ayure of the Business Department.
3. Prepare adjusting transfers as necessary to remove incorrect expenditures from the account.
4. Prepare a final transfer moving all unexpended appropriations to the 910 line in preparation for returning the balance to the Commonwealth or the US DOE.
5. Invoice, with the Commonwealth or US DOE as the vendor, to return the unexpended balance. Complete required state fiscal forms.
6. If carry forward is permitted, prepare a transfer form moving the carry forward sum from the 910 line of the closing grant to the appropriate line(s) of the successor grant. CAUTION: City Auditing closes grant accounts 90 days after the expiration of the grant. No bills can be paid after this date. This rule is strictly enforced.

J.. RECORDS
Records of all grants business must be accumulated systematically during the period of the grant, and must be retained for five years following the end date of the grant. Records may have to be kept longer if questioned by an auditor or the funding source.
A. Program Records Fund Managers should retain:
1. All correspondence with the funding source, including original notices to apply for funding, awards, approved applications.
2. Copies of all circulars, postings, job descriptions; payroll certifications, sign-in sheets, PS-02, PS-03 and other records of personnel/payroll transactions.
3. Copies of all requisitions, invoices, purchase orders, and correspondence documenting non-salary expenditures and all transfer records.
4. Fund Managers should create and maintain a system, by expense code, to record all payroll and non-payroll expenditures, and to show all current balances. Keeping a file folder for each expense code helps to maintain orderly files and assist with full expenditure. Technical is available in the Development, business and Budget Offices.

K. Inventory Records
BPS is required to maintain an inventory of all equipment purchased with grant money. Responsibility Center Managers must label all equipment appropriately and maintain inventory records to within two weeks of the delivery or loss of equipment. For labels and inventory record sheets, contact Information Services (635-9199).

L. Storing Records

At the close of a grant, records should be brought together, labeled clearly, and stored in a clearly marked file or file box. The location of the file/file box should be made known in writing to the appropriate Responsibility Center Manager.

M. AUDITS
All Fund Managers are required to cooperate fully with authorized auditors, providing full access to all records and responding promptly to requests for information and documentation.
A. Federal Grants: All federal grants will be audited annually by an independent, private accounting firm hired by the City of Boston pursuant to the Single audit Act of 1984. This audit will be carried out from May to October, and will be submitted to the regional office of the department of Education. The federal Department of Education may question findings of the independent auditor and may then conduct its own audit, but may not institute a separate audit apart from the Single audit.
B. State Grants: At its option, the state may accept the findings of the Single Audit as sufficient review of state awards, or the state may conduct a separate audit of state funds.
C. Private Grants: The Boston Educational Development Foundation retains an independent certified public accountant who audits all private grants annually and prepares an annual audit report which is available to interested parties on request. The City Auditing Department must be provided with copies of all audits and should be apprised of audits in progress.

CONCLUSION: Your cooperation with these procedures will be greatly appreciated, as will recommendations for improvement in the procedures. Please direct all inquiries about these procedures to Monica Roberts, Acting Director for Development. (635-7936).