As we approach the end of the fiscal year, I want to provide some reminders regarding our longstanding policy for submitting final budget amendments and requests for end date extensions. In addition, guidance is provided on the procedures for allocating FY19 IDEA Flow Through and Preschool carryover in FY20 to member districts if a cooperative elected not to extend and operate IDEA grants for one additional fiscal year.
Deadline for Final FY 2019 Grant Amendments and End Date Extensions
Final FY19 budget amendments for IDEA Part B as well as all other state or federal grants must be received at ISBE (submitted via the electronic Grants Management System) no later than 30 calendar days prior to the end date of the project.
As a reminder, please be advised of the following regarding the need for a project end date extension:
- An end date extension past June 30 is NOT needed for regular term staff salaries paid on a 12-month salary schedule.
- An end date extension past June 30 is NOT needed to pay obligations (e.g., purchase order for supplies) incurred June 30 or prior.
- An end date extension past June 30 IS NEEDED for new activities and obligations incurred July 1 or later (e.g., Summer School, Professional Development).
Final amendments for state and federal grants with a project end date of June 30, 2019, must be received by ISBE no later than May 31, 2019. The last day amendments will be accepted for grants with a project end date of August 31, 2019, is August 1, 2019. The deadline for grant applications in the electronic Grants Management System is also referenced on the Program Overview page under “Amendment Due Date.”
Cooperatives please note: Member district amendments need to be submitted to the cooperative administrator in a timely fashion to accommodate a final review for accuracy and approvability before acceptance and approval to ISBE on or before the May 31/August 1 deadline.
FY 2019 IDEA Part B Carryover
Carryover funds are unbudgeted and/or unexpended funds from the previous fiscal year calculated from the grantee’s final expenditure report. It is important to note that carryover cannot be computed unless the final expenditure report is submitted.
A final expenditure report is defined as:
- The cumulative expenditure through date is equal to or is greater than the project end date, and;
- There are no outstanding obligations reported.
Special education cooperatives with a FY19 IDEA Part B project end date of June 30 must submit a completion report on or before July 20. If that report does not reflect any outstanding obligations, then the report is considered final and carryover will be computed.
If the July 20 report is submitted with outstanding obligations, then a final expenditure report that reflects total project expenditures (with all prior obligations liquidated) must be submitted no later than 90 calendar days after the project end date. Cooperatives with project end dates of August 31 must submit the completion report on or before September 20. The same liquidation timelines apply.
The following guidance is applicable to special education cooperatives that did not elect the one year extension. Please communicate to your member districts that carryover will not be allocated to them until the cooperative’s final FY19 expenditure report(s) is on file at ISBE. It is critical that the final report submitted is accurate so that any carryover can be allocated correctly. Once the FY19 final expenditure report is on file with ISBE, the special education cooperative must send a letter signed by the cooperative administrator that lists each member district and the amount of carryover to be allocated to them. The signed letter can be scanned and emailed to me at timler@isbe.net or mailed to:
Illinois State Board of Education
Division of Funding and Disbursement Services (E-320)
100 North First Street
Springfield, IL 62777
Once the signed letter is received, Funding and Disbursements staff will manually load the carryover amounts into each member district’s FY20 IDEA Part B Flow Through or Preschool grant as appropriate. Member districts will then be able to login to the electronic Grants Management System and submit an amendment to access the additional funds. Questions regarding this process can be directed to the division at 217/782-5256.
Tim Imler
Director
Funding and Disbursement Services
Illinois State Board of Education
Phone: 217-782-5256
Fax: 217-782-3910