Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE): Safe & Supportive Schools: National Center on School Infrastructure (NCSI), Assistance Listing Number 84.184R | ED GRANTS 060223 002

Opportunity Information: Apply for ED GRANTS 060223 002

The U.S. Department of Education, through the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE) and its Safe and Supportive Schools efforts, offered a discretionary grant competition to create the National Center on School Infrastructure (NCSI), listed under Assistance Listing Number 84.184R (Funding Opportunity Number ED GRANTS 060223 002). The central idea of the opportunity is to fund one national center that can operate as a hub of practical, high-quality information and support for public K-12 school facility needs across the country, with a strong emphasis on safety, student and staff health, sustainability, and equity in school infrastructure.

At its core, the program is designed to establish a national clearinghouse focused on public school infrastructure. That means the funded center is expected to gather, organize, and share resources that States and local educational agencies (LEAs) can use to plan, finance, modernize, and improve school facilities. The notice highlights that the center should help decision-makers navigate infrastructure improvements that make schools safer and healthier, reduce environmental and operational burdens, and address longstanding inequities in facility quality that can affect students differently depending on district wealth, geography, and community conditions.

In addition to serving as a resource repository, the NCSI is intended to provide hands-on technical assistance (TA). The main TA audiences named in the synopsis are (1) Supporting America’s School Infrastructure (SASI) grantees and (2) high-need LEAs that are trying to leverage available resources to improve public school facilities. In practice, this kind of TA typically includes things like advising on planning and project development, strengthening facility needs assessments, sharing best practices and model approaches, helping recipients understand allowable funding uses across different sources, and supporting strategies that improve the condition and performance of buildings in ways that directly benefit students (for example, indoor air quality, building safety features, accessibility, and energy efficiency).

The competition anticipated making a single award, with an expected award count of 1 and an award ceiling of $2,000,000. The grant instrument type is a standard discretionary grant, and the funding activity category is education. While the synopsis lists eligible applicants broadly as “Others,” it also points applicants to the official Federal Register notice for the authoritative eligibility rules and any clarifications, meaning applicants needed to consult that notice to confirm whether they qualified and what documentation or partnership requirements applied.

Key dates included applications becoming available on June 5, 2023, a deadline to submit applications by August 7, 2023, and an intergovernmental review deadline of October 6, 2023. The Department also indicated that information about a pre-application webinar would be posted on the program website (https://oese.ed.gov/offices/school-infrastructure-programs-sip/), which is often used to walk potential applicants through priorities, submission requirements, and common application pitfalls.

For official requirements, the Department emphasized that the Federal Register application notice controls, and that applicants should also follow the Department’s “Revised Common Instructions for Applicants to Department of Education Discretionary Grant Programs” (published December 7, 2022) for directions on obtaining and submitting an application, formatting, and other government-wide application norms. Questions about the opportunity were directed to the program contact, Staci Cummins, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20202-6450, telephone 202-987-1674, and email oese.school.infrastructure@ed.gov.

Overall, this opportunity is best understood as an effort to fund one national-capacity organization to strengthen K-12 facility improvement work nationwide by centralizing credible infrastructure resources and delivering targeted technical assistance, especially to SASI grantees and high-need districts, so more communities can plan and carry out school building improvements that are safe, healthy, sustainable, and equitable for students.

• The Department of Education in the education sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE): Safe & Supportive Schools: National Center on School Infrastructure (NCSI), Assistance Listing Number 84.184R" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 84.184.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jun 02, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 07, 2023 Applications Available June 5, 2023. Deadline for Transmittal of Applications August 7, 2023. Deadline for Intergovernmental Review October 6, 2023. Pre-Application Webinar Information Information about a pre-application webinar will be available on the program website at https://oese.ed.gov/offices/school-infrastructure-programs-sip/. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT Staci Cummins, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20202-6450. Telephone 202-987-1674. Email oese.school.infrastructure@ed.gov.. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $2,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

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