The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education is constitutionally mandated to allocate funds for any or all of the following purposes:
A. To provide compensation to city or parish school board professional instructional employees;
B. To ensure an adequate supply of superior textbooks, library books, equipment, and other instructional materials;
C. To fund exemplary programs in elementary or secondary schools designed to improve elementary or secondary student academic achievement or vocational-technical skills;
D. To fund carefully defined research efforts, including pilot programs, designed to improve elementary and secondary student academic achievement;
E. To fund school remediation programs and preschool programs;
F. To fund the teaching of foreign languages in elementary and secondary schools; and
G. To fund an adequate supply of teachers by providing scholarships or stipends to prospective teachers in academic or vocational-technical areas where there is a critical teacher shortage.
Funding Methods
8(g) Elementary/Secondary Competitive Grant Program
Competitive Grant Program funds are allocated by formula to the district/school. Each year, one or more focus areas are identified for proposed projects. The allocation of these 8(g) funds is equitably distributed according to categories determined by agency size. Each system/agency is limited to a certain number of project submissions according to its allocation category. The projects ranked highest by independent grant readers appointed by BESE receive funds. Projects are funded on an annual basis, with a maximum of three years of funding. Competitive grant guidelines are published in December of each year and are available on the BESE portion of the La. Department of Education web-site at www.louisianaschools.net . Proposals are due in February. Grants are awarded in May of each year and are implemented during the following fiscal year.
8(g) Elementary/Secondary Student Enhancement Block Grant Program
The Student Enhancement Block Grant Program provides funds for projects that serve as a catalyst for student academic and vocational skill improvement. Participants select from designated focus areas in accordance with local priorities. Based on a per-pupil allocation, eligible systems and schools receive block grant funding according to enrollment figures from the previous year. Block grant funds should not be used for the same project in the same school at the same grade level for more than four consecutive years unless it is for a prekindergarten block grant program. Block grant guidelines are published in April of each year and are available on the BESE portion of the La. Dept. of Education web-site at www.louisianaschools.net . Proposals are due in August.
8(g) Statewide Grant Program
The Statewide Grant Programs are administered by state agencies, such as the Department of Education, to provide goods, services, or flow-through dollars to schools or school systems. The programs target specific participants and/or focus on common goals determined by the administering agency and approved by BESE. Students, teachers, and administrators can all benefit from funded programs, which can be implemented to provide support services including the incorporation of up-to-date classroom methodology, curriculum and assessment materials, technical support for school and district leaders, and professional development. Each year BESE allocates a certain percentage of the overall 8(g) budget for Statewide Grant Programs , and the programs and budgets are approved by BESE. The agencies administering the statewide programs have their own system for funding as well as identifying and notifying participants. Eligible public/nonpublic districts or independent public/nonpublic schools apply directly to these agencies for program guidelines and funding methods. For more information on specific 8(g) Statewide Programs, see the 8(g) Program Directory.
