§7273 Program Authorized

Summary

The Secretary must use not less than 95 percent of the money made available under section 7251(b)(2)(B) to award competitive grants to eligible groups. Grants fund two types of work: Promise neighborhoods, which set up a wide range of coordinated services in very distressed, low-income neighborhoods with struggling schools; and full-service community schools, which help public elementary and secondary schools offer extra services to students and families. Grants must be large enough to do the job. They last up to 5 years and can be extended for up to 2 more years. Continued funding after year 3 depends on progress toward the program’s performance measures in section 7274(h) for Promise neighborhoods and the yearly objectives in section 7275(a)(4)(C) for full-service schools. Promise neighborhood grantees must match at least 100 percent of the grant with funds from federal, state, local, or private sources, and some of that must come from private sources (including in-kind help). The Secretary can reduce the match for high-need, rural, or tribal applicants and may waive or cut the match for one year at a time for major financial hardship. Full-service school grantees must provide non-Federal matching funds, and the Bureau of Indian Education may use other federal funds to meet that rule. The Secretary may not require matching that is larger than the grant amount, and the ability to match must not be used to decide who wins grants. At least 15 percent of the grant funds must go to rural-area projects unless there are not enough good applications. Each year, at least 3 Promise neighborhood grants and at least 10 full-service community school grants must be awarded, subject to available funding, needed grant size, and application quality.