Grantee Learning Series for Covid 19 Relief Programs Grant Administration (July 26, 2023)

Summary

A transcript dated July 26, 2023 of a Department of Education conference, grantee learning series for Covid 19 Relief Programs grant administration, introduced by Sandy Daon, a group leader in the Office of State and Grantee Relations. The introduction states that the Grantee Learning series comprises five webinars each Wednesday afternoon beginning that day through August 23rd to share information and resources to support implementation of the relief programs. It states that Christopher Tate and Jennifer Timmons prepared a recorded webinar giving an overview of grants administration for the programs, which is played and followed by questions. The transcript is marked by speaker and timestamp.

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Date: July 26, 2023
Title: 072623-848121-DeptofEducation-Grantee-English



Speaker 0 00:00:00 Welcome and thank you for joining today's conference, grantee learning series for
Covid 19 Relief Programs grant administration. Before we begin, please ensure you've opened the WebEx
chat panel, be using the associated icon on the bottom right corner of your screen. Please note that all
audio connections will be muted until the q and a portion of the call. You are. However, welcome to
submit written questions throughout the presentation and these will be addressed during q and a. To
submit your questions in writing, select all panelists from the dropdown menu in the chat panel, enter
your question in the message box provided and send. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. If
your required technical assistance, please send a chat to the event producer. With that, I'm going to turn
the conference over to Sandra Jason, group leader in the office of State and grantee relations. Please go
ahead.

Speaker 1 00:00:50 Thank you, Tegan. Good afternoon everyone, and thank you for setting time aside
today to join us for our Grantee Learning Series, grants Administration webinar. I'm Sandy Daon and I'm
a group leader in the Office of State and grantee relations. The Grantee Learning series is comprised of
five webinars held each Wednesday afternoon, beginning today through August 23rd. These webinars
are designed to provide a forum for the department to share important information and resources with
our grantees to support your implementation of the Esser gear and E'S programs. These webinars are
designed to orient new grantees staff while the programs um, are also here to support grantee staff who
have been working on these programs over the last several years. This afternoon I'm joined by my
colleagues Christopher Tate, who is a group leader in the Office of State and grantee relations, and he
works to oversee all grants administration and monitoring within our office. We're also joined today by
Jennifer Timmons, who's a program officer that leads several aspects of Grants administration. They
have prepared a recorded webinar to provide an overview of the grants administration for the Esser gear
and E'S programs. What we're going to do is we're going to play the recorded webinar and we are going
to open it up at the end so that you can ask any questions throughout the presentation. If you have any
questions, please also feel free to enter any questions you have into the chat.

Speaker 1 00:02:27 Without further delay, we're going to play the recording for you.

Speaker 2 00:02:33 Hello, I'm Christopher Tate, the group leader responsible for managing the
technical aspects of the administration of grants in the Office of State and grantee relations. We are the
office that manages the US Department of Education's pre-K through 12 pandemic relief programs. I'm
joined today by my colleague Jennifer Timmons. Jennifer, a former district Title one administrator comes
to this work with a significant amount of federal grant implementation experience and is a key resource
to your state's program officer in supporting you as you implement your programs. Today's webinar
within the Grantee Learning series is designed to provide new program staff with an overview of the
technical aspects of managing the elementary and secondary school Emergency Relief Fund ser, the
Governor's Emergency Education Relief Fund gear, and the emergency Assistance to Non-Public Schools
program commonly referred to as e s. This part, this first part in our five-part series is intended to
provide a framework for understanding and managing these programs grants.

Speaker 2 00:03:45 It will highlight key resources that are available to you in managing your award
from the US Department of Education. During our session today, we want to accomplish objectives. First,
we will review the legislative and regulatory requirements for administering the Esser gear and e s
programs and also touch upon the department's guidance for administering the programs. Then we will
Date: July 26, 2023
Title: 072623-848121-DeptofEducation-Grantee-English

review the lifecycle of these programs grants and touch on the different resources available to support
your management of your programs. Some key features of administering these unique grants and
different requirements will be touched on today. However, future sessions in the series such as the
session on reporting and also on monitoring will explore those requirements in greater depth.

Speaker 2 00:04:42 Today's presentation is shaped around the grant lifecycle. We'll start by touching
upon the legislation authorizing each of the three Covid Relief education programs and detail, the early
implementation of the programs. However, since the project period for CARES Funds has ended and the
project period for CEF Funds ends on September 30th this year, we will dedicate a significant portion of
today's agenda to the administration of these programs during the late later phases of the grant lifecycle,
including the grant closeout and the liquidation of funds after the project period ends. The Education
stabilization fund for E S F that we'll be discussing today include the Esser gear and E'S funds authorized
by the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security Act CARES Act, the Coronavirus Response and Relief
supplemental App Appropriations CSA Act, and the American Rescue Plan. It's important to note with
any discussion of E S F funds that due to the awarding timelines of these grants, grantees and sub-
recipients will be implementing the requirements simultaneously. Unlike other federal grants that may
have repeated funding year after year, stemming from the same legislation with consistent requirements
and guidance that may allow for a general accounting practice of first in first out, the timelines of these
funds intersect in such a way to necessitate equal attention to each of the funding sources
simultaneously. In addition, while the requirements may be similar between iterations of funds, there
are many significant differences from one authorization to another. The grantees must be aware of
during implementation and we will take a look at some of those today. Jennifer.

Speaker 3 00:06:48 Thank you Christopher. The lifecycle of a federal formula grant begins with the
congressional authorization and appropriation of a particular program. Once this occurs, funding
announcements are made to grantees to indicate the availability and associated requirements of the
authorized funding, and this is considered the pre-award phase of the grant. During the pre-award
phase, the requirements to apply for and obtain an award are made available and once grantees have
submitted any required documents such as state plans or assurances and certifications, and once the
department has reviewed and provided approval of the state's submission, the funds are awarded and
that award period begins. It's important to note that auditing, reporting and monitoring activities are
ongoing throughout the entirety of the grants lifecycle and continue after the close of the period of
performance. Today we'll be using this framework of the Grants Lifecycle to guide our discussions of
responsibilities and resources for the E S F awards authorized through the CARES CSA and a P R
<inaudible> beginning with the authorization and pre-award phases.

Speaker 3 00:08:04 In 2020 and 2021, the Congress passed and the president signed into law three
major covid relief bills as part of the Education Stabilization Fund or E S F funds that provided funding to
K 12 education. In March, 2020, the CARES Act provided 13.2 billion for the elementary and secondary
school emergency relief funds or ESSER and 3 billion for the Governor's Emergency Education Relief Fund
often referred to as here. These funds were specifically targeted for use by states to prevent, prepare for
and respond to the C Ovid 19 pandemic. In December, 2020, the Congress passed and the president
signed into law another C relief bill, the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations
or CSA Act under the CSSA Act, an additional 54.3 billion was appropriated for the ESSER program and
the CSA Act also provided an additional 4 billion for the GEAR Program and LEAs institutions of higher
Date: July 26, 2023
Title: 072623-848121-DeptofEducation-Grantee-English

education and education related entities continue to be eligible Sub-recipients like Chairs, ESSA and Gear
Rcsa funds can be used for a variety of activities to address the impact of the pandemic.

Speaker 3 00:09:20 Under CSA 2.75 billion of the Governor's year allocation is dedicated to a new
program, the emergency assistance to non-public schools or E NSS program, state education agencies or
SCAs administer the S program and priority for services and assistance is provided to non-public schools
that enroll low income students and are most impacted by C Ovid 19. Finally, the American Rescue Plan
or a RRP Act, which was approved by Congress and signed into law in March, 2021, provides 122 billion
for the ESSER program and 2.75 billion for the EAMS program. Let's take a closer look at the awarding of
funds and the timelines for each iteration of those funds.

Speaker 3 00:10:11 The CARES period of performance began in spring 2020 and ended September
30th, 2022. Grantees and sub-recipients could continue to liquidate properly obligated funds through
January 28th, 2023 unless the grantee had applied for and received approval to extend its liquidation
period. Currently, the CARES Act awards are in a period of manual closeout. Though reporting and
monitoring activities are continuing. These funds will revert to the Treasury four years after the end of
the period of performance in October, 2026. In order to apply for and obtain funds, states were required
under both the Esser and Gear Awards to provide signed certification and agreement documents that
provided specific state information. As there was no requirement under the CARES Act to submit a state
plan for either the Esser or Gear Award programs, amendments were not required.

Speaker 3 00:11:11 The awarding of C of funds and the associated of performance began in January,
2021 and will end September 30th, 2023. Grantees and Subrecipients can continue to liquidate properly
obligated funds through January 28th, 2024 unless the grantee applies for, excuse me, and receives
approval to extend its liquidation period. Absent a, an approved extension CSA Awards will enter into a
period of suspension and manual closeout in February, 2024. Though again reporting and monitoring
activities will continue. These funds will then revert to the Treasury four years after the end of that CSSA
period of performance in October, 2027. In order to apply for and obtain funds, states were required
under both the Caress Esser and Gear Awards to provide signed certification and agreement documents
as we just said, that provided that specific state information, these C N A documents also apply to the
CSA SER and Gear Awards with a few exceptions, which will be discussed a little bit later. As with the
CARES Awards, there's no requirement under CSA Esser or gear to submit amendments. Now, in order
for a state to apply for and obtain funding under CSA aims states were again required to submit a
certification and agreement.

Speaker 3 00:12:33 Finally, the American Rescue Plan or a R P Act, which was approved by Congress
and signed into law in March, 2021, provides 122 billion for the ESSER program and 2.75 million for the
EAMS program. The awarding of these funds and their associated period of performance began in
March, 2021 and will end September 30th, 2024. Grantees and subrecipients again can continue to
liquidate properly obligated funds through, excuse me, January 28th, 2025, and these awards will enter
into a period of suspension and manual closeout in February, 2025. Though once again, reporting and
monitoring activities will continue throughout the entirety of those periods. These funds will then revert
to the Treasury four years after the end of the our period of performance in October, 2028. Our
professor has some additional requirements that were not part of CARES or CSSA Esser, including the
requirement of state education agencies to submit plans to the department outlining how they plan to
use the a p Esser funds to address learning loss and support summer and afterschool programming. The
Date: July 26, 2023
Title: 072623-848121-DeptofEducation-Grantee-English

S E A plan had to include information on how the state would support L E A efforts to combat learning
loss and LEAs also had to submit use of funds plans to their sess. State plans were also required to
receive our EAMS funds, though the program is very similar to the CSA EAMS program with some
significant exceptions that we'll look at a little bit later.

Speaker 3 00:14:09 During that pre-award phase, the requirements to apply for and obtain an award
are made available and once grantees have submitted any required documents such as the state plans
and assurances and certifications we've just discussed, and once the department again has reviewed and
provided approval of the state's submission, those funds are awarded and the awarded period begins
during the award period or the program period. There are a number of tasks that grantees will be
required to undertake and these will generally be listed within the grant's assurances. Additional
information is usually provided by the department through guidance documents such as Frequently
asked questions or FAQs or through specific grantee communications to assist with program
implementation. The award period includes that period of time when grantees and SUBRECIPIENTS may
obligate funds for allowable expenses to implement the program again per the certification and
agreements or the assurances. The particular note again is the requirement of grantees to continually
monitor the implementation of sub-awards made to their sub-grantees or their sub-recipients, and
includes both formal and informal monitoring activities as well as the technical assistance that would be
provided to sub-recipients throughout the period of performance or the implementation period of the
grant and any of its associated sub-awards.

Speaker 3 00:15:33 While time doesn't allow for an extended review of all requirements included
within the Esser gear and EAMS programs of the CARES CSSA and ARP acts, we will take a general look at
the programmatic legislative and regulatory requirements of each program.

Speaker 3 00:15:53 The CARES Act as their funds were to be used by states and local education
agencies or LEAs to support a variety of activities aimed at addressing the impact that Covid to 19 has
had and continues to have on elementary and secondary schools, including for any activities that might
be authorized by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act or E S E A, the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act, I D E A, the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act, the Carl D. Perkins Career and
Technical Assistance or Technical Education Act and subtitle B of Title VII of the McKinney-Vento
Homeless Assistance Act. Allocations of CARES Esser were provided to states in the same proportion as
the state received funds under Part A of the Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. In
fiscal year 2019, uh, SESS or state educational agencies could reserve up to 10% of the CARES esser funds
for state level activities while at least 90% had to be allocated to local educational agencies or LEAs and
LEAs that received those cares.

Speaker 3 00:17:02 Esser funds were required under the CARES Act to provide equitable services to
non-public schools and students. These requirements, along with others can be found in the CARES Esser
certification and agreement, often called the C N A document. Remember that under both CARES Esser
and Source of Esser state plans were not required, but grantees should access the C N A documents to
ensure compliance with program assurances under the CSA Act, an additional 54.3 billion was
appropriated for the ESSER program and CSA Esser funds can be used for the same broad purposes as
CARES Esser and the states and LEAs were encouraged to use CSSA Esser funds to safely reopen schools,
measure and effectively address significant learning loss and take other actions to mitigate the impact of
Date: July 26, 2023
Title: 072623-848121-DeptofEducation-Grantee-English

Covid 19. Similar to Caress, er, SESS can reserve up to 10% for state level activities while at least 90% of
those funds must be distributed to local education agencies or LEAs.

Speaker 3 00:18:09 The C N A documents for the CARES Award also apply to the CSSA Awards with a
few exceptions. Notably, the Equitable Services provisions, which are only required under the Caress
programs LEAs that reserve that received cssa Esser or GEAR funds were not required to provide
equitable services to non-public schools because Congress had authorized that new program, the
Emergency Assistance to non-public schools or the Eames program to provide that aid in accepting Esser
A GEAR funds, the states also agreed to comply with the CARES Act Maintenance of Effort requirements
and while those requirements are slightly different under the CSSA Act, a state by accepting the funds
does agree to com also comply with the CSA Act Maintenance of Effort requirements. There's another
grantee learning series webinar dedicated to the maintenance of effort requirements, so we won't go
into detail about those requirements today, but please do take a look at your C N A documents for
additional information. ARP SER has some additional requirements that were not part of CARES or CISA
Esser. First, while state education agencies may reserve up to 10% of the state's ARP Esser allocation, at
least 5% must be used to support the implementation of evidence-based interventions aimed specifically
at addressing learning loss such as summer learning or summer enrichment, extended day
comprehensive afterschool programs, extended school year programs, et cetera.

Speaker 3 00:19:38 In addition, at least 1% must be used to support evidence-based summer
enrichment programs and 1% or evidence-based comprehensive afterschool programs. Secondly, LEAs
must reserve at least 20% of their funds to address learning loss through the implementation of
evidence-based interventions and ensure that those interventions respond to students' social, emotional
and academic needs, as well as address the disproportionate impact of Covid Ovid 19 on
underrepresented student groups. In addition, an L E A that receives our BUSER funds must within 30
days of receiving those funds make publicly available on its website a plan for their safe return to in-
person instruction in the continuity of services and before making that public that that plan publicly
available the L E A must seek public comment on that plan. SES were required to submit plans to the
department outlining how they're going to use a professor funds to address learning loss and support
summer and afterschool programs, and the S E A also had to include information on how the state would
support l e A efforts to combat learning loss. LEAs also had to submit use of funds plans to their SESS and
make those available. In addition, states that accepted a SER funds agreed to meet the ARP Acts
maintenance of equity requirements and again, more detail on those requirements will be provided in a
different webinar.

Speaker 3 00:21:09 Additional state and L E A requirements related to the ARP esser state and local
plans can be found within the interim Final rule requirement or I F R. The I F R further details the
requirements for meaningful consultation and public input to the state and local plans. Additional
requirements related to, excuse me, related to the LEAs safe return to in-person instruction and
continuity of services is also included. The state plans were required in order to receive access to the R
ser funds and those approved plans are posted on the linked website as well as the state's links to all of
those local plans that had to be posted publicly. No particular loop within the s e's plan components is
Section D, maximizing state level funds to support students. This section of the s e's plan outlines the
state required reservations of funds for the academic impact of lost instructional time, which is section D
one.
Date: July 26, 2023
Title: 072623-848121-DeptofEducation-Grantee-English

Speaker 3 00:22:08 Section D two is the evidence-based Summer Learning and Enrichment Programs,
and Section D three is the evidence-based comprehensive afterschool programs. And then section D four
is an optional reservation for emergency needs. If the state determines that changes are needed to its
original approved plan in sections D one, D two or D three that detailed the required reservations, the
state should submit a plan amendment to their assigned program officer through the state mailbox and
we've linked the amendment requirements that are required for that amendment there, but certainly
ask any questions of your program officer if you have any questions about that process.

Speaker 3 00:22:51 The cures Out gear funds were provided to each state on the basis of a formula
that that includes student aged population and poverty levels, and governors could award sub-grants to
local education agencies, institutions of higher education or education related entities and gear funds
could be used to support a variety of activities to address the impact of the Coronavirus Pandemic that it
has had and continues to have on students and families across the nation. Similar to CARES er a liaise
that received CARES ACT gear funds were required to provide equitable services to non-public schools
and students and Justice with Cares ser in accepting gear funds. States also had to comply with the
CARES Act maintenance of effort requirements, which will be discussed in a future webinar. The CSA Act
provided additional funding for the GEAR program and LEAs institutes, uh, institutions of higher
education and education related entities continue to be eligible sub-recipients and also like CARES gear
CSA Gear funds can be used for a variety of activities to address the impact of the pandemic, including
supporting the provision of childcare and early childhood education, social and emotional support, and
the protection of education related jobs.

Speaker 3 00:24:12 Under CSA Gear, LEAs that received CSA gear funds were not required to provide
equitable services to non-public schools because again, Congress had authorized the E NS program to
provide that aid. However, states that accepted CSSA gear funds do agree to comply with the CSSA Act
maintenance of effort requirements, which are slightly different from those under the CARES Act, but
again, those will be detailed and greater depth at a future and learning series. Additional funding for the
GEAR program was not included within the A act, so the final opportunity to obligate any funds for the
GEAR program will expire on September 30th, 2023 and any funds that revert through the csa, EAMS or
ARP aims programs to be used to support allowable expenses under the GEAR two program, uh, are also
available. However, funds that revert to the governor under the CSA E program must also be obligated by
September 30th, 2023. However, funds that revert to the governor as a part of the ARP Beings program
are available for obligation through September 30th, 2024.

Speaker 3 00:25:25 Under CSA 2.75 billion of the governor's gear allocation is dedicated to the SS
program. State education agencies administer the S program and the priority for services and assistance
is provided to non-public schools that enroll low-income students and are most impacted by covid 19.
Non-public schools that participated in the paycheck protection program on or after December 27th,
2020 are not eligible to receive or to participate in the EAMS program. Allowable services or assistance
for this program include supplies to sanitize or disinfect and clean schools, improved ventilation systems,
covid testing educational technology, and addressing learning loss. CISA ees participating non-public
schools may be reimbursed for some, but not all of the allowable services and assistance and any EINs
funds that were not obligated for services or assistance to non-public schools within six months of a
state receiving that award are required to revert to the governor for allowable purposes. Under CSSA
gear states that accepted CSSA EINs funds also agreed to comply with the CSA Act Maintenance of effort
requirements for our deans.
Date: July 26, 2023
Title: 072623-848121-DeptofEducation-Grantee-English

Speaker 3 00:26:43 The program is very similar to the CSA EAMS program with two significant
exceptions. First, only non-public schools with significant enrollments of low-income students and those
most impacted by C Ovid 19 are eligible for the services and assistance under the E NSS program. In
addition, non-public schools cannot receive reimbursements under ar eams like they could under crc
eams state education agencies were required with the a EAMS program to submit an application to the
department, and the application had to indicate the significant percentage of low-income students that
the state would use to determine what that significant percentage would be and how they would
determine those most impacted by C Ovid 19. The department suggested a significant low-income
percentage of 40%, but did allow states to propose different percentages within their plans similar to
CSA e's, arp, eams funds that are not obligated for services or assistance within six months of the state
receiving an ARP EAMS award do revert to the governor for purposes under CSA year. And with that I'll
hand it back over to Christopher for the fiscal terms and conditions.

Speaker 2 00:28:03 Thank you, Jenny. In addition to the specific program requirements detailed
within the statute assurances for each ESSER gear and EAMS award include an insurance to comply with
uniform administrative requirements, cost principles, and audit requirements for federal awards, more
often referred to as the uniform guidance. These will be discussed in greater depth in a future webinar in
our grantee learning series, and for now we will reference them in relation to the grantee's
responsibilities for monitoring and to bring awareness to the specific resources where these
requirements can be found. Uniform guidance requirements and the code of federal regulations are
found in two C F R Part 200 Subparts D and e. Subpart D includes the post federal award requirements
and include requirements for financial management systems, procurement reports and records, as well
as grant closeout. These requirements also explain the responsibilities of federal awarding agencies and
bachelor entities such as state educational agencies and awarding monitoring and closing out grant
awards. Subpart E of the Uniform guidance includes cost principles, which can assist the state's
determination of allowable costs, cost principles identify what costs may or may not be charged to a
grant and how these costs should be classified. Cost charge to a federal assistance award need to be
documented as allowable, necessary and reasonable and eligible.

Speaker 2 00:29:48 In addition to the requirements within the code of Federal Regulations, grantees
and their subrecipients must also comply with various provisions of the education department's general
administrative regulations commonly referred to as Edgar. Some of these provisions include those for
state administered programs, definitions that apply to the department's regulations, the General
Education Provision Act, GPA and restrictions on lobbying as well as requirements for drugs free
workplaces. Additional terms and conditions related to EDGAR include drug and alcohol abuse
prevention, the protection of human subjects, student rights, and family educational rights and privacy.
While we will not take time today to explore the regulations with C F R or Edgar, they are included for
your reference and links to each will be made available within the slides when they're posted up to our
announcements page. As we've noted previously, this is the grantee's responsibility to not only comply
with the regulations as a grant recipient, but also to monitor its sub-recipients throughout the lifecycle of
its grant award. These regulations should be included within the state's own internal controls and
administrative procedures, as well as its monitoring processes with sub-recipients. Additional
information will be reviewed in future grantee learning series sessions. Grantees can also access the
monitoring protocols that have been provided by the department for the Esser gear and E'S programs.
Links to these protocols are included in the resources at the close of today's session.
Date: July 26, 2023
Title: 072623-848121-DeptofEducation-Grantee-English

Speaker 2 00:31:30 Once the program's period of performance is complete, obligations for funds
associated with the program can no longer take place. However, following the end of the award
obligation period, there is 120 day liquidation period to complete the associated liquidations of expenses
obligated within the grants period of performance. During this time, grantees and sub-recipients can
continue to draw down funds and once that time period is ended, the grant will move into a closeout
period. In order to close out a grant, several requirements must first be met. The grant period must have
expired, the liquidation period must have expired, and there are $0 balance in G five or there are no
outstanding requests for funds still in the grant account provided there is a balance performance and
financial reports and data must have been received and approved, financial and programmatic issues
and findings must be resolved and all audit findings must be resolved.

Speaker 2 00:32:45 As we've already discussed, grantees and sub-recipients have 120 days to
liquidate and draw down funds following the close of the period of performance. This is referred to as
the liquidation period. Absent and approved request to additionally liquidate funds, a grant will then
move into its suspension period. During this time, funds can no longer be drawn down from G five as the
department and the grantee prepare to close out the award reporting. However, for pandemic relief
funds will continue for CARES Act and CSA Acted programs well after the suspension period has taken
effect. Following the suspension period, S G R will place those grants in manual closeout and conduct
manual closeout activities with grantees. Such activities include verifying grant balances and any
required return of funds to the department. A grant will be considered closed once all closeout periods,
including any final reporting is complete for CARES Act funds and also CSA Act funds. Grantees will go
into manual closeout, however, again, closeout activities for those grants will not be complete until
reporting has been finished in the 2027 and 2028 years Respectively. Remaining funds on the ground
award will be returned to the treasury four years after the end of each grant obligation period. Jenny,

Speaker 3 00:34:45 Thank you Christopher. There may be occasions where funds that were properly
obligated by the obligation deadline were not able to be drawn down during the liquidation period. The
department's longstanding process for late liquidation is what has guided the late liquidation process
and the liquidation extension process, and we'll take a little bit of a look at those. Now. If these
liquidations have been completed, the state may apply for a one-time late liquidation drawdown of
funds and the department has provided technical assistance for this process for related to the CARES Act
S R N Gear Funds and those slides and the recording are available and linked on our websites. In order to
apply, a state must submit a signed request on letterhead and include all of the components that are
listed. It. It is essential to note that this process may only include those obligations which were made
during the period of funding availability and for allowable purposes,

Speaker 3 00:35:53 Excuse me, sorry. Specific to the CARES and cssa Esser gear and S Awards states
may also apply for an extended liquidation period of up to 14 additional months to continue the
liquidation of timely and valid obligations made pursuant to 34 C F R section 76 7 0 7, which we'll
reference momentarily to streamline that request process for grantees and operationalize the collection
and review of grantee requests. SS G R developed a liquidation extension request template for grantees
to utilize for their requests related to either the CARES gear and esser funds or the CSSA Esser gear and
Eden's funds. The request templates require grantee and sub-grantee information regarding obligation
and liquidation amounts and grantee attestations regarding the timelines and the allowability of properly
obligated expenses with a continued focus on grantee oversight responsibilities during the extension
period. If a grantee has any questions about either the one-time late liquidation request or the
Date: July 26, 2023
Title: 072623-848121-DeptofEducation-Grantee-English

liquidation extension request process, they should submit questions to their state mailbox and their
assigned program officer at state name dot oe@ed.gov or for example, Alabama dot oe@ed.gov.

Speaker 3 00:37:18 As a reminder, we want to reference the requirements for obliging and liquidating
funds, and so to obligate generally means to make a binding commitment for services worker products
as detailed within 34 C F R section 76 7 0 7, which stipulate when those obligations are made and
regardless of a state's intention or approval to apply for a one-time late liquidation of funds or
liquidation extension obligations for funds must have been completed by the associated obligation
deadline. It should also be noted that certainly in order to be considered properly obligated, the funding
must be obligated for allowable uses as provided by the specific funding requirements and allowances of
either the esser gear or e programs. And additional information regarding the allowable uses may be
found in the department's published FAQs for each program, 34 VFR 76 7 0 7 further details, specific
types of obligations and the date by which those obligations are considered to be made.

Speaker 3 00:38:23 And this information also applies to obligated costs included within a liquidation
extension. A state or subgrantee should carefully consider whether these consider these differentiations
when reporting their properly obligated funds. And of particular note are the obligation of funds for
personal services, whether by a state or sub-grantee employee or by a contracted employee that is not
an employee of the state or sub-grantee. So personal services that are provided by an employee of the
state or an employee of the sub-grantee are obligated when those services are performed. Thus, no
personal services may be obligated after the awards obligation deadline. Personal services by a
contractor who is not an employee of the state or sub-grantee such as a contract through a third party
are obligated on the date which the state or subgrant team makes a binding written commitment to
obtain those services.

Speaker 3 00:39:22 And then finally, to liquidate simply means to draw down and spend the funds
and a timely liquidation occurs during the period of obligation i e by September 30th of the given year
for the program. And through those first 120 calendar days after the relevant September 30th date. And
as long as obligations happen made by the September 30th deadline for the given program for
contracted services, and those obligations are valid, or if they follow all applicable requirements, then
those obligations may be liquidated during the 120 calendar day liquidation period. We've discussed in
this session numerous resources that the department has provided to support grantees and their
subrecipients in the administration of these funds and the implementation of their related programs.
Many of those resources are included here, but a particular note are the Esser gear and EAMS program
pages, and those are listed at the top with the asterisk.

Speaker 3 00:40:22 Our webmaster and S D R has worked to consolidate and organize our program
resources and navigating to those main program pages will provide you access to all of those other
related resources, those that are linked here, as well as some additional resources. And also a particular
note is our S G R Deadlines and announcements page, which includes upcoming deadlines as well as
communications made to grantees through G five. And you can access past additions of our Office's
Weekly newsletter, which is distributed at the start of each week and includes a number of reminders
and links to other resources.

Speaker 3 00:41:01 We've also provided some links to other resources from the department, which
may prove valuable to you in the administration of your federal grant programs. Heads grants homepage
is the department's landing page for a variety of formula and discretionary grant related resources. The
Date: July 26, 2023
Title: 072623-848121-DeptofEducation-Grantee-English

training and risk management tools page includes a variety of resources to assist those charged with
implementing the department's discretionary and formula programs with mitigating risk through the
grants management process. The grants training courses are a set of 10 courses designed to ensure that
the department's, grantees, sub-grantees, and other grants management and oversight staff understand
and are able to execute their administrative and financial responsibilities within the confines of federal
regulations and directives application information and the notice of competitions or other
announcements are available on ed's Federal register notices page and grants.gov provides a
clearinghouse for both online application packages for ed, as well as a variety of other grant
administration resources. And the grants training resources is a series of trainings that's provided by the
US Chief Financial Officers Council. Uh, and an overview of all of those trainings is provided in the
introduction to Federal Financial Assistance presentation, which is also linked for you, but of course your
primary resource for technical assistance associated with the E S F programs remains your state mailbox
and your assigned program officer.

Speaker 3 00:42:39 And that concludes our grantee learning session for the Grants Administration
overview. Thank you so much for joining us.

Speaker 1 00:43:01 Um, we are going to start by addressing some of the questions that have been
put into the chat, and I believe they came just to the panelists, so we're going to repeat the questions
and just share the responses for everybody. But the first question that came into the chat was, will the
slides be available after the presentation? And the answer is yes. The slides and the recorded
presentation will be on the Office of state and grantee relations website approximately one week after
this presentation. The second question that came in was, um, regarding ARP Esser funds. And the
question was, for Esser three or ARP Esser requires LEAs to reserve at least 20% of funds to address
learning loss. Does ED or the department interpret that to mean LEAs are required to use or expend at
least 20% of the ARP esser or ESSER three funds to address learning loss? And Christopher, go ahead.

Speaker 5 00:44:11 Uh, sure. As I said in the chat, um, to Tammy, Hey, Tammy, um, yes, the l e a must
use the 20% IT reserves, um, from its art SS r allocation to address learning loss.

Speaker 1 00:44:30 And we had one more question in the chat, and again, in a minute you can come
off mute and ask any additional questions. But a third question was, has ED or the department
coordinated the appropriate use of obligated funds after the grant period with the O I G for auditing
purposes?

Speaker 5 00:44:51 And we have been working with the auditors to understand all of the post
obligation, um, activities to include, um, ensuring their understanding of the department's approach to
implementing late liquidation extensions under the CARES and CSA program. Um, we also have
continued to, uh, release new guidance and I, I'm guessing that this might be part of what this question
is referring to around activities that continue up to and after the liquidation period, depending on, um,
your own state's, uh, state law, state and local laws guiding your procurement process. Um, both we
have met with and shared that information and that guidance with the O I G and continue to meet with
them on a regular basis as it pertains to all pandemic relief, um, programs, and additionally are working
to ensure that we provide technical assistance opportunities nationally for, um, auditors so that they
have a full understanding of all of the pandemic relief programs and also the department's support to
our grantees and the implementation of those programs through the obligation, uh, period and through
the liquidation period or period of extension.
Date: July 26, 2023
Title: 072623-848121-DeptofEducation-Grantee-English

Speaker 1 00:46:21 Christopher, another question that came into the chat just now was, are the
maintenance of equity requirements only for fiscal year 22 and 23, or will there be maintenance of
equity for fiscal year 24 as well? In other words, the maintenance of equity data due on July 31st, is that
the final data collection? And on the 31st, that is the SS e a final data collection. Um, but on August 16th,
we're going to have another webinar on the maintenance of effort and the maintenance of equity, um,
pro, uh, the information on that. So please be sure to join us then. But yes, the ss e a level data, um, on
the July 31st is the final data collection. I am checking the chat to see if there is additional questions. I'm
not seeing any at this time. Let me see if, if you, if anybody would like to unmute themselves and ask
questions, please feel free to unmute yourself and I'll continue to look in the chat.

Speaker 0 00:47:42 If you'd like to ask a question verbally, you can select the raise hand icon in
WebEx. You'll hear a beep when your line is unmuted, at which point, please and state your name and
question. You can still submit your questions using the WebEx chat feature. Just remember to select all
panelists from the dropdown menu before submitting your question.

Speaker 5 00:48:01 Um, so Sandy, we do have a question from, um, Amber Moore. And the question
is related to non-compliance with the, um, reservations that are required under our ser. And so, um, yes,
both the state and an L e A could be seen to be non-compliant if they are not implementing, um, that
particular reservation. Um, how that would be handled obviously would be case specific given the
specific circumstances. Um, however, if a state were to find that an L e A has been non-compliant and
not fully utilized, its 20% reservation, um, to address learning loss, I mean, the expectation of the
department of the grantee as the, the agent for these funds is that you would work with that sub-
recipient to get them into compliance.

Speaker 1 00:49:41 One more item. I know I mentioned that July 31st was the last data collection for
s e a level maintenance of equity. Um, but the l e a level maintenance of equity data will be due in
December, but there will none be required in f Y 24. And

Speaker 5 00:50:02 Cindy, I have another question, or I'm sorry. Yeah, another question come in. Um,
but I'm not sure if it went to all of the group or if it was sent to me privately. And it again is related to the
20% reservation as it pertains to an L E A that has closed or does not fully expend its SSS or three funds
by the end of the grant period. Um, I'm going to actually ask that, uh, Amber, you would reach out to
your program officer and submit this question. I want to follow up actually with our, our program
attorneys. Because there is a world in which that l e A would be seen as non-compliant for lack of use of
its 20% reservation. Um, however I need to follow up on, on how that would be implemented in the
context of the l e a closing or opting to return a portion of its award. So we will, if you will submit that
question to your state mailbox, we will make a point to follow up with you.

Speaker 1 00:51:15 I think I see one more in the chat. Um, with a r p LEAs need to post updates every
six months for return to learn and uses of funds. When is the last update required to be made? And
should LEAs leave their plans up throughout the full time the award stays open.

Speaker 5 00:51:42 So again, this is Christopher. Um, so the, um, return to learn and uses of funds
plan should remain posted. If an, if an L E A has made changes since their most recent, um, publication
of that plan, we would ask that that be updated to reflect the current state. Um, but we do recognize the
farther that we become, um, out from the national emergency making regular updates, the six month
interval may not be necessary. Um, but we would be validating, um, and would ask that that grantees
Date: July 26, 2023
Title: 072623-848121-DeptofEducation-Grantee-English

continue to validate that those plans are, are posted and reflect the most current STA state, um, within
that l e a.

Speaker 1 00:52:57 I think one more question just came into the chat. Uh, what would your
recommendation be if two or more districts were to consolidate prior to the end of the A R P Esser grant
period? Is this, is this regarding reporting or?

Speaker 5 00:53:20 I, I think, Christina, if I'm understanding your question correctly, I would interpret
it to mean what happens to their ARP SSR allocations within those two, two separate LEAs when they
combined. Um, I am going to ask that you also submit that question to our state mailbox. Um, I would
need to actually consult with our, uh, policy folks who have been more intimately involved in sort of
those case specific instances such as that where two districts have consolidated during the
implementation period with regard to monitoring notifications for the 23-24 school year. Um, we first, I
want just remind folks that we are going to have a monitoring specific, um, se, uh, session rather in the
grantee learning series. But what I will say and we'll speak to more during that particular session is that,
um, we annually run our risk assessment and identify which entities we will be monitoring in the
upcoming year, um, during the late summer, early fall. Um, just in terms of staging, however, we notify
states based on the timeline, approximately, um, five months out from when the actual monitoring event
were to occur. When we, when we do that reach out to the states, we also then work with them to
identify which LEAs we might include as a partner in that monitoring, um, event. So, so more to come in
that space. But, um, I would encourage you to sit in to learn more about our monitoring, uh, both our
monitoring program, let me say, um, in that particular webinar.

Speaker 5 00:55:28 Sandy, can I add a, a quick just bullet point, uh, for things monitoring as it
pertains to the 2324 school year. Um, one thing that I do want to note for folks, and you're going to hear
us say this, um, in this series, but also if you receive our news flash, you're going to start to receive
updates. The next bi-annual review, um, will be conducted in October to November with more
information being shared out by your program officer at your monthly check-ins in September. Um, but
the focus of that review will be on ARP Esser, um, and will contain a review of a limited portion of the
scope of that program. But we do already anticipate that that review will happen in October and
November.

Speaker 1 00:56:24 I don't see any more questions in the chat. Again, we have about two minutes
and we welcome you to come off mute if you have any additional questions. And if there are no further
questions, then we would like to thank all of you for joining us today. And please remember to sign up to
attend our webinar next week, which is related to monitoring. And it will also be a live session held
Wednesday, August 2nd at the same time beginning at two o'clock eastern time. Thank you all for joining
us.

Speaker 0 00:57:18 That concludes our conference. Thank you for using event services. You may now
disconnect.


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