New Application Process for Small Rural School Achievement Program
Last week, the Department of Education's Office of
Elementary and Secondary Education announced a new application process for
school districts applying for the Small Rural School Achievement (SRSA)
Program. The impetus for this change stems from a review of the SRSA
application, which determined that the applicant burden could be significantly
reduced while maintaining appropriate accountability guardrails for the
grantmaking process. As a result of these actions, a much simpler application
will be open to districts on February 3, 2020.
Listed below are some noticeable highlights from the new
2020 SRSA application:
· The new quick and easy process relies on a
single platform – OMB Max Survey – to gather school district information. The previous
process required school districts to navigate three sites and took three hours
to complete an application. The new application process is estimated to take no
more than 30 minutes to complete.
· Eligible school districts will access the
application through a unique link that the Department will send via email
invitation to school district contacts, which will be provided to the
Department by state educational agencies. The Department will also provide the approximately
2,500 school districts that are eligible for both the SRSA and Rural Low-Income
School (RLIS) program enhanced guidance on how to choose between SRSA and RLIS,
including award estimates for both RLIS and SRSA in the email invitation. This
will help ensure that school districts are more informed when they choose
between SRSA and RLIS
· In order to complete the SRSA application, the
school district contact will need to confirm or provide the following:
1.
School district name and contact information;
2.
Authorized representative contact information;
3.
Secondary contact information;
4.
Dun and Bradstreet (DUNS) number;
5.
General Education Provisions Act (GEPA)
statement information; and
6.
Assurances.
· After an application has been submitted, each school
district will receive a confirmation email that includes the PR/award number
and a summary of the school district’s SRSA application responses to keep for its
records. Additionally, the school district contact will be directed to the System
for Award Management (SAM) at SAM.gov to update its DUNS status.
· The Department will conduct webinars for school
district staff on February 4, March 19, and April 2, 2020 to determine the new
quick and easy process for submitting the SRSA application (webinar invitations
are forthcoming). The application process will also be demonstrated at the
National ESEA Conference on February 6, 2020 in Atlanta, Georgia (for
additional details click here)