FY2020: High School Voter Registration and Pre-Registration

Fund Code: 575

Purpose:

The purpose of this competitive grant program is to promote civic engagement of high school students through initiatives that encourage them to register or pre-registering to vote. Chapter 296 of the Acts of 2018, An Act to promote and enhance civic engagement, states, "In all public schools, history of the United States of America and social science, including civics, shall be taught as required subjects to promote civic service and a greater knowledge thereof and to prepare students, morally and intellectually, for the duties of citizenship." This grant supports Local Education Agencies (LEAs), Collaboratives, and Approved Special Education School Programs to meet this charge by raising students' awareness of the importance of voting and supporting them to register or pre-register to vote.

Priorities:

The 2018 Massachusetts Curriculum Framework for History and Social Science includes "A Renewed Mission: Education for Civic Life in a Democracy." According to the Framework, "The primary purpose of a history and social science education is to prepare students to have the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to become thoughtful and active participants in a democratic society and a complex world." To achieve this purpose, the learning standards in the Framework include civic skills, knowledge, and dispositions for students at all grades. This grant is focused specifically on high schools and supports LEAs, Collaboratives, and Approved Special Education School Programs to connect civics instruction with informed participation in our democratic society, in this case the act of voting.

In Massachusetts, you may register or pre-register to vote if you are:

• A citizen of the United States,
• A Massachusetts resident, and
• At least 18 years old for registration or at least 16 years old for pre-registration

Chapter 296 of the Acts of 2018 establishes a high school voter challenge to be organized by the Secretary of State's Office. In support of the challenge, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) is administering this competitive grant program to catalyze and learn from local efforts to support high school students to become voters.

Grant applications will be scored with the following priorities in mind:

• Appropriateness of proposed activities: Grant funds may be used to host non-partisan voter registration events for students (in collaboration with city or town clerks), establish student leadership structures for students to help their peers register to vote, develop communications materials for students and families about the importance of voting and how to register, partner with voter registration and voter education organizations, develop leadership opportunities for teachers to connect voter registration activities with students' classroom instruction.
• Scale of impact: As noted below, proposals that reach multiple high schools, and thereby more students, are eligible for higher funding levels. In general, applications that describe a clear impact on the greatest number of students will be scored most favorably.
• Coordination with city or town clerk: Applications that demonstrate a commitment to and support for the proposed grant activities from the city or town clerk will be scored most favorably.
• Evaluation: DESE will be evaluating grant impact. Grant recipients will be required to share a description of the outcomes and any products created (e.g., communication materials). As noted above, DESE hopes to learn from grantees about effective mechanisms for supporting students to become voters. Grantees will be expected to quantify the impact of the grant, for example by specifying the number of students who registered or pre-registered to vote as a result of grant activities.
• Appropriateness of budget: DESE is interested in funding as many valuable projects as possible. Accurate and reasonable budgets that are specific about funding needs will be scored most favorably.

In addition, competitive priority in the scoring process will be given to the following applicants:

• Cross-LEA partnerships. With limited funding available, partnerships are attractive for maximizing the reach of the grant. LEAs that form a partnership should identify one LEA to apply for the grant as the fiscal agent for the group.
• LEAs or partnerships in which greater than 30% of the student population is designated as economically disadvantaged

Eligibility:

All Massachusetts Local Education Agencies (districts, charter schools, Collaboratives, and Approved Special Education School Programs) are eligible to apply.

Funding Type:

Trust

Funding:

Approximately $80,000 is available through trust funds.

Maximum award size is determined by the number of high schools in the LEA (or group of LEAs in the case of partnerships).

• Size Tier 1: LEA with 1 high school may apply for up to $3,000
• Size Tier 2: LEA(s) or partnerships with 2 to 5 high schools may apply for up to $5,000
• Size Tier 3: LEA(s) or partnerships with 6 to 12 high schools may apply for up to $12,000
• Size Tier 4: LEA(s) or partnerships with greater than 12 high schools may apply for up to $20,000.

Funding is contingent upon availability. All dollar amounts listed are estimated/approximate and are subject to change.

Fund Use:

Fund use must be consistent with the priorities described above, and may include, but is not limited to:

• Stipends for teachers who will manage voter education and registration events for the school, including coordination of events with the city or town clerk
• Contracting with external partners who specialize in voter registration
• Costs associated with voter registration events
• Costs associated with running a student civic leadership group focused on student voter registration and education

Funding restrictions:

• No funds may be dedicated toward administrator salaries
• No funds may be used to purchase technology (e.g., Smart Boards, iPads)
• No funds may be used to provide payment or any form of remuneration to students to register or pre-register to vote.
• No funds may be used to support political candidates or campaigns.

Project Duration:

FY2020 - Upon Award through 6/30/2020

FY2021 - July 1, 2020 - November 30, 2020

Program Unit:

Center for Instructional Support

Contact:

Cecelia Spencer

Phone Number:

(781) 338-6243

Date Due:

Complete Proposals are due by Friday, March 6 2020

Proposals must be received at the Department by 5:00 p.m. on the date due.

Required Forms:

FY2020: Part I — General — Program Unit Signature Page — (Standard Contract Form and Application for Program Grants)

FY2021: Part I — General — Program Unit Signature Page — (Standard Contract Form and Application for Program Grants)

FY2020: Part II - Budget Detail Pages Workbook (include both pages)

FY2021: Part II - Budget Detail Pages Workbook (include both pages)

Part III — Required Program Information

Additional Information:

FAQ - FC 575 High School Voter

Grant use of funds will be evaluated upon completion of project duration.

Any grant related questions must be emailed to: Cecelia Spencer . Responses will be posted to this website.

Submission Instructions:

Email one (1) complete set of all required documents (Part I, Part II and Part III) to: Cecelia Spencer no later than 5:00 p.m. on the date due.

Upon award, recipients will be required to enter the approved budget in EdGrants and upload required documents. Once selected, grant recipients will be contacted with further instructions on the process.

Last Updated: March 4, 2020