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This session provides participants an opportunity to gain a deeper and more meaningful understanding of Federal grants management. Grant terminology and concepts that apply to all federal grants will be presented in an entertaining and applicable format. The presenters will incorporate how WISEgrants has been designed to help subrecipients remain compliant with the many different rules and responsibilities.
8:15 AM
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Title I is a federal program that provides funds to LEAs and their schools with high percentages of children from low-income families to support a variety of services to students struggling to meet state academic achievement standards. This session will provide participants with information on how Title I grant allocations are determined and when and how the funds can be used in the LEA.
9:30 AM
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Funds under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) are provided to LEAs on a formula basis to support programs and services for students with disabilities. In general, the funds are to be used for the excess cost of providing special education instruction and related services. This session will provide the participants with introductory information on how IDEA grant allocations are calculated and when and how the funds may be used. There will be a focus on allowed costs and some common funding errors that are made. This session is designed for program and business office staff new to special education funding.
9:30 AM
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WISEgrants, DPI’s Federal Grants Management System, is celebrating its fifth year in 2019-2020. Since the inception of our one-stop shop for federal grants and incorporating feedback from our users, we have been able to build many tools within the program to help everyone from the novice grants administrator to the seasoned business manager. This session will walk the audience through the most useful features of WISEgrants, including tips for finding WUFAR combinations within a grant budget to reports that will help align the subrecipient’s ledger to WISEgrants claims.
9:30 AM
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Title II, Part A is a federal program that provides funds to eligible LEAs for training, hiring, and retaining skilled educators. All activities must be grounded in a needs assessment, employ the evidence based strategies, and evaluated using research. This session will provide participants with information on how Title II, Part A grant funds can be used by the LEAs under ESSA requirements.
10:45 AM
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A complicated and complex topic, this session will break down the IDEA regulation that requires LEAs to maintain local spending amounts on special education in exchange for the IDEA grant funds. This introductory session will walk audience members through the four comparison tests, the data that is used within the tests, and the responsibilities of the LEAs if all four comparison tests are not met. This session will focus on the regulations and understanding MOE compliance.
10:45 AM
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This section will present the basics of WUFAR and is meant for program staff or new business office staff. All LEAs in Wisconsin, including Independent Charter Schools, must submit financial reports including grant budgets and claims to DPI using the Department's established account coding system. This session will break down these codes so program staff can understand the structure and the importance of understanding this reporting requirement. Program staff will learn what pieces matter to the program area and how having this knowledge, along with communication between the program and business office, will improve the LEA’s management of federal funds. If you are a seasoned fiscal staff person, this session will be an introduction to WUFAR and will provide information already well known to those staff who work with WUFAR on a regular basis. The session will consist of 40 minutes of presentation and a 20 minute hands-on activity in which teams are provided funding scenarios and WUFAR account strings, and participants must fit the pieces together.
10:45 AM
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Title III is a federal program that provides supplemental funding to schools for the purpose of ensuring that English Learners (ELs), including immigrant children and youth, improve English proficiency and academic achievement. This session will provide participants with information on how Title III grant allocations are determined and when and how the funds can be used by LEAs and consortia. Additionally, the speaker will highlight the importance of data collection and its connection to program design and implementation.
12:30 PM
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Local Education Agencies (LEAs) are responsible for setting aside a portion of their IDEA allocation to provide special education instruction and related services to students with disabilities who are placed in private schools by their parents. This session will review which students are the LEA's responsibility, how the amount that must be set-aside is determined, how the funds must be spent to meet the requirement, and how it is budgeted and accounted for through WISEgrants. The speaker will also review how DPI monitors Equitable Services, including tracking of unspent set-aside funds and the end of year required reporting for LEAs that do not budget funds.
12:30 PM
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The Perkins V implementation will begin with the 2020-2021 grant application (available in WISEgrants March 2020). This presentation will include the major tenets of the new act and the affected program requirements. Discussion will include the new requirement of the comprehensive local needs assessment (CLNA) and budgeting according to the needs reflected in the results. Also discussed will be changes to Perkins allowed costs and new WISEgrants functionality related to Perkins V.
12:30 PM
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This federal funding source under ESSA provides a valuable opportunity to support the highest needs students within school communities through innovative activities, support, and community partnerships. This presentation will provide an overview of the intent and expectations of Title IV, Part A (Student Support and Academic Excellence) and explore ways to integrate and maximize funding. Best practices and example activities within the three program areas will be shared.
1:45 PM
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This session will provide an overview of two very flexible funding options available under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act: the Coordinated Early Intervening Services (CEIS) and Title I Schoolwide set-asides. Under the Title I Schoolwide set-aside option, LEAs with Title I Schoolwide schools are allowed to set aside a portion of their IDEA grant to support activities, not just special education, in a Title I Schoolwide program. Under the CEIS option, all LEAs that receive an IDEA allocation are allowed to use a portion of their grant to fund academic or behavioral interventions for students without disabilities. This session will review how the amounts available are determined, how they are budgeted and accounted for, and how the funds may be spent. Additional time will be spent on the CEIS narrative and student reporting requirements.
1:45 PM
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The Uniform Grant Guidance includes a focus on strengthening internal controls and requiring written procedures. This session will walk through the fiscal requirements and provide subrecipients with tips on writing procedures that ensure compliance with those requirements as well as the requirements for pass-through entities to evaluate each subrecipient's risk of noncompliance. The presenter will discuss the risk factors used in evaluating a subrecipient and how the evaluation of those risk factors is used in determining the appropriate level of monitoring per subrecipient.
1:45 PM
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This session will focus on three fundamental fiscal responsibilities under ESSA: Maintenance of Effort, Comparability and Title I Supplement not Supplant. The session will provide:
An overview of how DPI calculates maintenance of effort (MOE), including the impact of not meeting this compliance measure..
A discussion on the Title I Comparability Reporting requirements, including when a report is required and what information is used to determine comparability.
A review of the Title I Supplement not Supplant standard and how LEAs must demonstrate that their methodology to allocate state and local funds to each Title I school ensures that the school receives all the state and local funds it would otherwise receive if it were not a Title I school. The speakers will discuss possible methodologies to meet the SnS requirement and the factors LEAs will need to keep in mind as they determine allowable costs charged to their Title I funds.
3:00 PM
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LEAs that have been identified by DPI as having significant racial disproportionality in special education identification, discipline, and / or placement are required to set-aside 15% of their IDEA formula funds to pay for activities that will address the root causes of the LEA’s racial disproportionality. This set-aside is called “Comprehensive Coordinated Early Intervening Services” or “CCEIS.” The presenters will discuss the application process, including the submission of a Continuous Improvement Plan with examples of exemplary root cause factors and evidence-based improvement strategies. The session will provide an overview of the timeline and fiscal expectations for identified LEAs.
3:00 PM
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Have you ever wondered what corrective action will be required when your auditor identifies an audit finding on one of your federal awards? Or have you wondered what audit findings other school districts are receiving? This session will provide an update of the most common audit findings relating to federal awards and what audit findings are currently under the radar for fiscal monitoring at the state and federal levels.
3:00 PM
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