In a document dated January 5, 2011, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) provided guidance for Race to the Top (RTT) award grantees seeking to amend their respective plans for education reform.  The document provides that a grantee may at any time request revisions to the goals, activities, timelines, budgets and/or annual targets of its approved reform plan; however, certain conditions must be met for approval.  ED must agree to the revisions in writing and the revisions must not result in the grantee’s failure to comply with the terms and conditions of the RTT award and any statutory and regulatory provisions of the program nor change the overall scope and objectives of the grantee’s approved plan.

A grantee must request and obtain a plan amendment prior to making revisions that constitute (1) a substantial change in the activities of the approved plan, (2) major budgetary changes and/or (3) additions or removals of participating local education agencies (excluding additions and removals made within 90 days after receipt of the award, as permitted by the RTT program rules).  The ED guidance states that ED intends to review each amendment request and make a determination within 10 business days after receipt of the request.  Requests that violate or are not aligned with the RTT program principles will not be approved.  A grantee’s implementation of unapproved changes could result in the loss of its RTT award.

About Patsy Crawford

Patsy Crawford, Director of Legal Services, PCG Education, has over 30 years of legal experience and is responsible for providing legal and regulatory compliance support to the PCG Education management team. Since joining the firm in 1997, Patsy has worked closely with school district administrators and PCG Education managers and consultants to coordinate with state and federal Medicaid agencies to protect and improve billing programs for school districts. She has provided direct legal support to PCG Education projects in multiple states across the country.

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