Section 75.250  Application Procedure

The grant application is a measure of the components of a high-quality agricultural education program that the applicant currently has in place, and it is intended to help the applicant identify areas in which the program can be enhanced and improved. 

a)         The State Superintendent of Education shall provide the electronic application format for the agricultural education incentive grant. 

b)         The application shall be completed by the applicant's agricultural education teachers and submitted to the State Board of Education's Department of CTE and Innovation no later than July 15.  The application shall contain:

1)         an indication of the applicant's achievement, in the year previous to the year for which funding is requested, of one or more of the minimum standards and of one or more of the accompanying quality indicators for the minimum standard achieved;

2)         evidence or other documentation of the applicant's achievement of any standard or quality indicator, which shall be kept on file and provided to the staff of the State Board of Education's Department of CTE and Innovation upon request; and

3)         such certifications, assurances, and program-specific terms of the grant required by GATA or other applicable statutes or rules.

c)         No later than October 15, the applicant shall submit to the Department of CTE and Innovation a budget description for the grant year that will be based either on the applicant's grant allocation or flat grant amount for programs in operation for two years or fewer.  (See Section 75.240.)  The budget description shall at least list for each line item a detailed explanation of each expenditure. 

1)         Allowable expenditures include, but are not limited to, activities that support the improvement of instruction or program improvements (e.g., curriculum development, classroom and laboratory equipment, instructional supplies, software or online subscriptions, textbooks, professional development, field support services, program coordination, including affiliation fees, pilot projects and lodging for the Illinois Association of Vocational Agriculture Teachers (IAVAT) Conference).  Mileage may be charged to the grant only for travel associated with supervised agricultural experience visits.  The rate of reimbursement will be specified in the application.

2)         Nonallowable expenditures include, but are not limited to:

A)        teacher professional organization or union dues; college tuition;

B)        operation, maintenance, or repair costs of school laboratory machines and implements;

C)        utilities (e.g., heating, cooling, telephone);

D)        ordinary, non-specialized classroom furniture; and

E)        food and lodging, other than food and lodging for the IAVAT Conference (see Section 75.250(c)(1)).

3)         No more than 50 percent of the applicant's allocation shall be expended for teacher extended contracts (i.e., those that exceed nine months) or stipends, and no more than 25 percent of the allocation shall be expended for consumables.  Consumable items shall include, but are not limited to, ink cartridges, soil, seed, plants, plant pots, fertilizer, animals, feed, lab supplies, welding rods, and utilities.

d)         Applicants may be requested to clarify various aspects of their proposals.  The content of the approved proposal shall be incorporated into a grant agreement to be signed by the applicant's authorized representative and the State Superintendent of Education or designee.

(Source:  Amended at 45 Ill. Reg. 16012, effective December 1, 2021)