TEA Releases Guidance on ARRA Topics Including Deadlines PDF Print E-mail

11/01/10

Last week, the Texas Education Agency released instructions on various ARRA-related topics in a TO THE ADMINSTRATOR ADDRESSED letter, dated October 28, 2010. The topics covered the following areas:

1.    ARRA Section 1512 Quarterly Reporting Continuous Corrections Period – November 3-30, 2010

a.    OMB Revised Guidance on Calculating FTEs

b.    OMB and USDE Revised Guidance on Reporting Vendors with Payments of $25,000 or More

c.    Reporting Accurate Information

d.    ARRA Section 1512 Webinars

2.    Central Contractor Registration (CCR) – Annual Renewal

3.    ARRA Section 1511 Infrastructure Investment Reports

All corrections to the ARRA Section 1512 report for the quarter ended September 30, 2010, must be submitted by 5:00 p.m. Central Time, November 30, 2010. Corrections may be necessary if school districts did not follow revisions to guidance on calculating FTEs released December 18, 2009 or recent revised guidance on reporting vendor payments of more than $25,000.  

Although school districts registered with the CCR last year, “they must renew and revalidate their registration at least every 12 months from the date they first registered” and failure to do so may impair a school district’s ability to receive ARRA awards, including the school year 2010-2011 ARRA SFSF grant.  Therefore school districts are strongly encouraged to renew their CCR registration prior to the expiration date.  Information on CCR, including renewals, is available at https://www.bpn.gov/ccr/.

School districts are also reminded that if they were approved to use ARRA funds for infrastructure investments under ARRA IDEA-B Formula, ARRA IDEA-B Preschool, and ARRA SFSF, they must complete an ARRA Section 1511 Report in ER, even if they have chosen not to use the funds for infrastructure investments.  The 1511 report should be completed as soon as the school district is issued a NOGA and must be completed prior to the draw down of funds.  An infrastructure confirmation report must also be posted on the school district’s web site in addition to completing the 1511 certification in grants ER.   

The TEA will be conducting webinars to provide technical assistance on these topics on:

  • Wednesday, November 3, 2010, 10:00-11:30 a.m.
  • Tuesday, November 9, 2010, 2:00-3:30 p.m.

 Registration for the webinars is posted at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/webinar.aspx.

To the read the TEA announcement click on the link below.

http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/taa/plangraneval110110.html