(Sent to Ag Teachers, Principals, Superintendents of Agricultural Education Incentive Funding for Programs Grades 5-12)

Grant Recipient,

This is an urgent message to notify you that additional funds have been added to your fiscal year 2021 Incentive Funding Grant application in IWAS. Due to circumstances unforeseen at the start of the fiscal year and corrections in allocations in other Agricultural Education grant programs, additional funding is available from the Agricultural Education Line Item. On the recommendation of the Illinois Committee for Agricultural Education, those additional funds were allocated to the Incentive Funding Grant to support middle and high school programs.

Submitting an Amendment

Given the late timeline in which these funds were added to your application, all applications in this grant program will be extended to August 31, 2021, for fiscal year 2021 only. This will allow you until June 30, 2021, to submit an amended application in IWAS. Please do not wait until then as applications need to be approved and not just submitted to ISBE by that date. As your original application is already completed, you will need to complete an upward amendment to your budget to access the funds. If you need assistance, please follow the amendment directions found on the IFG Frequently Asked document (see Question 7 on Page 2) on the Agricultural Education grants website.

Important Dates and Required Reports

With the extended end date of August 31, 2021, you may have questions as to the reporting requirements from now until the end of the year. Here is a list of important dates to know:

·         June 30, 2021 – Amendments Due in IWAS Budget Application with additional funds accounted for in Budget Details page. Must be $0 remaining in Budget Details page.

·         June 30, 2021 – End of 4^th Quarter of Fiscal Year 2021. Upcoming Programmatic and Expenditure Reports are now available to be completed in their respective IWAS systems.

·         July 20, 2021 – 4^th Quarter Expenditure Report Due in IWAS

·         July 31, 2021 – 2^nd Semi-Annual Periodic Programmatic Report Due in IWAS

·         August 31, 2021 – Fiscal Year 2021 End Date for Incentive Funding Grant Program. Final Expenditure Report is now available to be completed in the respective IWAS system. 

·         September 20, 2021 – Final Expenditure Report Due in IWAS

·         December 30, 2021 – Final Periodic Programmatic Report is now available to be completed in the respective IWAS system.

·         January 31, 2022 – Final Periodic Programmatic Report Due in IWAS

Allowable Expenditures

Just like the funds from your original application, these additional funds must be spent in accordance with the terms of the grant. For more specific information on what is and is not allowed, please refer to the IFG Frequently Asked document (see Question 2 on Page 1). 

Follow-Up

If you are need of further assistance, please contact ISBE via ag_ed@isbe.net or reach out to your District Program Advisor (Link to FCAE Map). 

Mr. Andrew T. Klein

Principal Consultant for AFNR

CTE and Innovation, C-215

Illinois State Board of Education

100 N. First Street

Springfield, Illinois 62777

AFNR / CTE / ISBE