Supporting Colorado Teachers Program

Overview of the Supporting Colorado Teachers Program

Eligible Applicants:

All providers with a recognized brand in the State and the logistical ability to provide a system of teacher applications and fulfillment of teacher requests for small-dollar amounts of materials and equipment within the parameters of ESSER funding are eligible to apply.

*Applicants that have not done business with CDE will need to complete and submit a  W-9. If completing the W-9 with a SSN, please contact DeLilah Collins for instructions on how to submit the document securely.

Available Funds and Duration of Grant:

Approximately $11 million will be made available for this grant program. Requests from teachers must be granted and fulfilled with all grant funds no later than September 30, 2023. There will be no carryover of funds. Additional funding for this program may be available in the future and this grant will cover any such funding that might be available through September 30, 2024. 

Allowable Use of Funds:

A Provider that receives a grant under the program shall use the monies for fulfilling requests of Colorado teachers for materials and equipment for addressing the COVID-19 pandemic-related academic needs of their classrooms and students including the efforts to address the lost and unfinished learning related to the pandemic.

Grantee will work with CDE to determine the scope and parameters of the program. Allowable services or activities include reasonable expenses associated with classroom instruction and materials for student and teacher use.

Funding should be used for:

• Fulfilling allowable teacher resource requests for classroom items up to $1,000 per teacher (See Appendix A within the paper application for allowable teacher resource requests)
• Costs associated with reviewing and fulfilling teacher requests (Note: Administrative costs cannot exceed 10% of total funding)

Note: Funding may not be used for food, staff stipends, hiring for district positions, purchased services, or capital equipment.

Items must be delivered to the school or district address and cannot be shipped to an educator's home.

If the awardee has an approved, active indirect cost rate, the ICR Agreement must submitted along with the application. A 10% de minimus rate may be utilized for administrative costs subject the U.S. Department of Education Cost Allocation Guide.

Evaluation and Reporting:

Each contractor that received funds under ESSER is required to report, at a minimum, the following information to the Department on or before December 1, 2023:

• Regular reporting on the number of funded projects, associated dollar amounts for each requests, and a description of what is being purchased;
• The number of schools with funded projects, the number of teachers with funded projects; and
• Details related to qualitative impact on teachers and schools

Fiscal Requirements

• Grantee must have an active UEI number
• Grantee must complete a Vendor IS with the state of Colorado
• Ability to supply supporting purchase documentation, to include, at a minimum: the name of the teacher requesting funding, the teacher's school name and school district, purchased items, dollar amounts of purchased items, and documentation of when the purchased items were shipped by the grantee and received by the requesting teacher, with proof of receipt by teacher.

Information reported to CEDE in relation to grant activities is not confidential and is subject to public data requests. Grantees should ensure reported information does not contain PII or confidential information.

Data Privacy:

CDE takes seriously its obligation to protect the privacy of student and educator Personally Identifiable Information (PII) collected, used, shared, and stored. All program evaluation data will be collected in the aggregate and will be used, shared, and stored in compliance with CDE's privacy and security policies and procedures.

Note: Documents submitted as part of the application must not contain any personally identifiable student or educator information including names, identification numbers, or anything that could identify an individual. All data should be referenced/included in the aggregate and the aggregate counts should be redacted to remove small numbers under n=16 for students or n=5 for educators.

Information reported to CDE in relation to grant activities is not confidential and is subject to public request. Awarded grantees should ensure reported information does not contain Personally Identifiable Information (PII) or confidential information.

Timeline and Review Process:

Application will close on Friday, June 30, 2023. If interested in applying for this funding opportunity, submit the Intent to Apply by Friday, June 23, 2023, by 11:59 pm MDT. The Intent to Apply is encouraged, but not required to submit an application.

Applications will be reviewed by CDE staff and peer reviewers to ensure they contain all required components. Applicants will be notified of final award status no later than Friday July 21, 2023.

Note: This is a competitive process – applicants must score at least 42 points out of the 60 possible narrative points to be approved for funding. Applications that score below 42 points may be asked to submit revisions that would bring the application up to a fundable level. There is no guarantee that submitting an application will result in funding or funding at the requested level. All award decisions are final. Applicants that do not meet the qualifications may reapply for future grant opportunities.

Submission Process and Deadline:

Applications must be completed (including all elements outlined within the paper application) and submitted through the online application form by Friday, June 30, 2023, at 11:59 pm MDT. The Budget Workbook and Program Assurances will be completed through the online application form.

Within the online application, applicants will complete Part I with their applicant information and upload attachments as described in the Required Elements section within the paper application.

Incomplete or late applications will not be considered. Applicants should receive an automated confirmation email from the online system upon submission. If you do not, please email CompetitiveGrants@cde.state.co.us.