M E M O R A N D U M

DATE

: September 16, 2002

TO

: Selected School Superintendents and Non-Profit

Organizations

FROM

: Kathy Mizereck, Director

SUBJECT

: Governor’s Mentoring Initiative: Rural District

Initiative

Conference Report on House Bill 27E, Specific Appropriation 5B,

authorizes the Commissioner of Education to award grant dollars for

discretionary projects focused on providing mentoring services for

students as part of the Governor’s Mentoring Initiative. The total

allocation for this initiative is $950,000. For the Rural District

Initiative, an amount of $100,000 has been allocated to provide

funding for small or rural districts throughout the state.

This initiative is designed to assist school districts with enrollment

populations of less than 25,000 students.

This funding provides

incentive dollars to districts to partner and match dollars with

nonprofit groups and community based organizations to support a

district-level coordinator position for mentoring services.

The

Department, in consultation with the Governor’s Office, invites your

district to submit proposals through your district office for the Rural

District Initiative projects. Funds are competitive and each project is

limited to $20,000 per district, not to exceed $5,000 per school. This

allocation is granted for use only during the 2002-2003 school year.

Preference will be given to previous applicants that are able to

document marked success from the 2001-2002 Governor’s Mentoring

Initiative Rural District Initiative. Please note that a completed district

or nonprofit group application package should include separate

Department of Education 101 forms that represent each school’s

budget as well as an aggregate DOE 101 budget summary from the

district.

Non-profit or district applicants should complete and submit the

enclosed General Terms, Assurances, and Conditions for Participation

in Federal and State Programs form only if one is not already on file

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Memorandum

September 16, 2002

Page 2

with the Department of Education. Non-profit organizations are

required to include a copy of the overall current budget, the date of

operating fiscal period, and a list of the board of directors if applicable.

Project proposals are due by October 21, 2002.

If funded, collaborating schools may need to amend School

Improvement Plans for 2002 - 2003 to incorporate the mentoring

strategies for the project. Goals, measurable objectives, activities,

timelines, and professional development may need to be developed or

revised as schools address the components of the program.

Please submit an original proposal with original signatures and three

copies to the following address by

October 21, 2002

:

Grants Management Office

Florida Department of Education

325 West Gaines Street

Turlington Building, Suite 332

Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0400

Technical assistance is available from the Department of Education

during the proposal development process. You may contact Traci

Cotton in the Office of School Improvement by e-mail or phone as

follows: Traci.Cotton@fldoe.org (850) 487-1023 SunCom 277-1023.

BC:tc

Enclosure