DESE has defined an educational vision where all students are known and valued for who they are and what they bring to the school community, including their unique identities, languages, and backgrounds. Data from the 2022-23 school year indicates that 25 percent of Massachusetts students speak a language other than English as their first language; suggesting that a significant proportion of families may benefit from interpretation and translation services in schools. This need is growing each year. DESE seeks to support districts to more fully and equitably communicate with families that speak a language other than English and support parents/guardians in participating in critical choices impacting their children.
In 2019, the School Interpreters Task Force released a set of recommendations to improve interpretation in school settings. Since then, DESE has made significant strides in meeting those recommendations, including establishing coursework to train three levels of interpreters in education and providing support to districts in training their bilingual employees and interpreters for the education setting as well as creating language access plans to improve systems district-wide.
The Interpreter in the Education Setting Training competitive grant is meant to support districts in developing their capacity to provide high-quality interpretation services by training bilingual individuals in their school system to become trained as interpreters in the education setting. See additional information on DESE's Language Access website.
Competitive priority will be given to
Any Local Education Agency (district, charter school, or collaborative).
Trust (7010-0013 ARPA TRUST INTERPRETER ACCT)
Grant awards are contingent upon the grantee being able to certify that it will comply with the Massachusetts General Laws, including G.L. c. 40A, § 3A, the MBTA Communities Act.
Each LEA may apply for up to $35,000.
Approximately $150,000 available.
This RFP is the governing document for these grant funds.
Funding is contingent upon availability. All dollar amounts listed are estimated/approximate and are subject to change. If more funding becomes available it will be distributed under the same guidelines that appear in this RFP document.
Funds may be used for the following activities:
Pay the approved rate for bilingual district employees who many serve as school or district interpreters to attend courses from vendors approved on the Interpreter in Education Course Delivery Approved Provider list - 24MAOSTBH1.
Provide stipends to bilingual employees who successfully complete either the Tier 2 or Tier 3 DESE-approved interpreter training course. Each individual may receive up to $1,000 per successful course completion.
Stipend bilingual employees to apply for the Approved Provider list (24MAOSTBH1) to become a trained instructor and deliver DESE-approved interpreter training courses. Each individual who successfully applies on behalf of a school/district for the Approved Provider list and who completes the instructor training course may receive a stipend of up to $2,000. Newly trained instructors who run the Tier 2 or Tier 3 course training are also eligible for a stiped of up to 2,000.
Upon Approval – 06/30/2025
Office of Strategic Transformation
Breanna Higgins
(781) 338-3568
Friday, September 27, 2024 5:00PM
Proposals must be received at the Department by 5:00pm Eastern on the date due.
*All responses must be received by the due date listed above. Failure to do so will result in disqualification. Responses not submitted on time will not be reviewed. Applicants applying after the due date may be notified their application was received late and will not be reviewed. Applications must be submitted as directed in the Submissions Instructions below. Failure to do so may result in disqualification. If you need assistance with submitting your application, please reach out to the contact person listed on this funding opportunity.
The FY25 FC 0199 Interpreter in the Education Setting Training will be submitted in our new GEM$ system. GEM$ is a cloud-based fiscal and program management grant system that will eventually phase out the use of EdGrants.
Grants for Education Management System (GEM$)
Competitive grant applications are considered submitted when the Superintendent / Chief Executive approves the grant application in GEM$. In order to be considered for competitive funding, applicants must submit a grant application by the due date listed in the RFP.
The Superintendent / Chief Executive Approved Step allows for the organization lead to review and approve the grant application. Removing the requirement for the Part I Standard Contract Form, this step signifies Superintendent /Chief Executive sign off. Any grant budget changes requiring signature, will re-execute this step when amended signifying the organization lead is approving these changes.
New Organizations: Please Note, Grant Submission requires applicants to have their organization established in GEM$. Entities that do not have an organization in GEM$ must contact the DESE Program Unit issuing this grant at a minimum 5 business days prior to the grant due date for temporary organization access.
Failure to provide DESE with GEM$ Temp Organization Access Request at least 5 business days prior to the due date may result in not meeting the submission due date listed above. DESE cannot accept or review applications after the due date.
Please Note: Grant Submission at the LEA level requires roles to be established for Grant writer for the specific fund code, LEA fiscal for financial review/approval, and Superintendent/Chief Executive sign off. All these roles should be established prior to the grant due date and all appropriate forms should be either uploaded to GEM$, maintained at the LEA level or sent in to the DESE RFP contact as described on the individual forms. The user guidance documents and forms are found on the GEM$ homepage under DESE Resources. These forms can be accessed without logging in to the system.
Last Updated: September 10, 2024
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education 135 Santilli Highway, Everett, MA 02149
Voice: (781) 338-3000 TTY: (800) 439-2370
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