House Enrolled Act 1001-2015 establishes the Charter and Innovation Network School Grant Program, which is to be administered by the State Board of Education (SBOE) per Indiana Code (IC 20-24-13).
The SBOE will use the July ADM estimate to determine the initial grant amount each charter or innovation network school is eligible to receive. The initial grant amount will be half ($250) of the full grant amount ($500). The SBOE will post notice on its web site of each school’s initial grant amount. The initial grant amount will be given only to schools that, under IC 20-24-13-4, are eligible to receive a grant without application being made to the SBOE.
To receive the initial grant amount, charter and innovation network schools must first fill out the following two forms: (1) a Claim Voucher (State Form 11294), and (2) a letter of good standing.
a. The Claim Voucher already has filled in the Fund number (15173) and the Account number (571201).
b. On the Claim Voucher, the charter and innovation network schools will need to provide the following six items of information:
i. Invoice Date
ii. Invoice Amount
iii. Name of Vendor
iv. Vendor Address
v. Vendor Number, and
vi. July estimated ADM count (which should be provided in the Line Description).The charter and innovation network schools must return the Claim Voucher and a signed copy of the letter of good standing to the SBOE at the following address:
State Board of Education
c/o Charter/Innovation Network Grant
143 W. Market Street
Indianapolis, IN 46204After the official fall ADM count, which occurs in September, the SBOE will determine the remaining grant amount that each school corporation is eligible to receive after truing up the numbers so that each corporation receives $500 per ADM based on the official fall count. SBOE will use the official fall ADM count as provided by DOE. To receive the remainder of their grant, the charter and innovation network schools must submit a second Claim Voucher after the September ADM count, following the procedure outlined above. The charter and innovation network schools will not need to submit a second letter of good standing.
Please note that this process applies only to charter and innovation network schools that are eligible for the grant program without application being made. A list of those schools is here. Schools not on the list of eligible schools may, through October 1, 2015, submit an application to the State Board of Education for a grant. The State Board will review grant applications and determine whether to approve them no later than its October 14, 2015 business meeting. Applications for the grant should be submitted in a letter on school letterhead to the following address:
State Board of Education
c/o Charter/Innovation Network Grant
143 W. Market Street
Indianapolis, IN 46204
Grant application letters must include the following: (1) why the State Board of Education should approve the grant; (2) how the school’s performance compares with the performance of the nearest noncharter public school(s) with the same grade configuration; and (3) any other information the school determines is relevant to its grant application, and which might help the State Board of Education make a determination.