Frequently Asked Questions

My school was told that our grant check was sent to MCPS, but we have not received it yet.   What should we do?

Call or write to Ms. Sherry Noah in the Office of the Controller on 301-279-3255.  Provide the name of the grantor and when the funds were sent to MCPS. If Ms. Noah is unable to locate the funds, call 301-279-3547 or write to the MCPS Grants Specialist.

What must we do when we receive a grant?

There often is a period of time that lapses between announcement of a grant award and receipt of the award.   You cannot incur expenses that will be charged to the grant until the grant is actually received and deposited into an appropriate account.

If the donor designates the funds for your school but sends the funds to MCPS, the funds are administered through central offices.  Therefore, a budget specialist must set up a special numbered account that the school may charge expenses for, which the grant pays.

When funds are sent directly to a school, the principal places them in the school's Independent Activity Fund and forwards any funds budgeted for MCPS personnel (including stipends and substitutes) to the MCPS Division of Accounting along with MCPS Form 460-2: Request for Temporary Employment and MCPS Form 430-12: Temporary Part Time Computer Generated Individual Voucher. Payment of substitute teachers is completed by use of MCPS Form 430-1: Leave Request. 

How do we gain access to our grant funds?

Grant funds sent directly to your schools are deposited into your school's Independent Activity Fund and accessed in accordance with MCPS regulations described in the Manual of Policies and Procedures for Administering Independent Activity Funds. When a grant account for the school has been established, the school receives those funds upon submission of reimbursement requests.

What kind of records must we keep of expenses charged to our grant, and for how long?

Grant managers and principals must account for every penny of grant funds that they receive. All receipts and documentation should be maintained for a minimum of three years after the end of the funding period.

Can grants awarded directly to a school be used to pay for staff working during the school day?

The funds that are awarded to a school cannot be used to pay for any staff who would work during the normal school day with the exception of substitute teachers.

May we use grant funds to pay teachers or other MCPS staff as consultants?

No.

Can we use grant funds to hire someone to "manage" a project that will be implemented at our school?

Depending upon what the funding source has approved, schools that receive grants can hire individuals, including parents who are not MCPS employees, to work on grant-funded activities and to assist in coordinating daily activities supported by the grant. These individuals, however, cannot manage the grant activities. Only principals can be held accountable for managing grant-funded activities taking place in their schools.

Must grant funds be used to pay for FICA, or is this an optional expense when paying people to work on grant-related activities?

Consistent with requirements of the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA), grant funds must cover the hourly rate at which wages and stipends are to be paid plus 7.5 percent for federal insurance.

Our school received grant funds to pay for an item that is no longer needed for our project. We want to use these funds for other purchases that would support the project. Is this okay?

Some donors allow awardees to make modest adjustments to the budgets they submitted when applying for a grant. If the adjustment results in a significant change to the program design, it may not be allowed, so always check with the funder before redirecting funds and follow carefully the instructions given. Most funders will not permit amendments to the budget or requests for extensions of time to spend grant funds immediately prior to the end of their fiscal years or your grant periods.

Are there any standard deadlines that are critical to effective management of grants?

Grant deadlines are driven by the fiscal year of the funder. The federal government's fiscal year begins on October 1 and ends on September 30--three months after the fiscal years of our County and State governments. Private foundations and donors most often operate on calendar year basis, which begins on January 1st and ends on December 31st.

The project that you designed and the timeline you set forth in your proposal also will provide key deadlines. Note carefully when the funder requires periodic reports. Some funders base the deadlines for those reports on the date that they announce the award to you; others may expect reports after your project has officially begun. Before starting your project, mark all of the deadlines by which your funder must receive requests for amendments, reports of expenditures, and any other data about the project.

We recently received a grant to deliver services in an MCPS school but did not receive help from the school on the application. What should we do to be able to implement the grant in MCPS as we proposed?

Call 301-279-3547 or write to the MCPS Grants Specialist.  Send a copy of your funded proposal, its award letter, and other documentation setting forth the conditions of the grant.  The grant specialist will review your proposal for consistency with MCPS plans and determine whether any proposed activities impose costs upon MCPS that are not covered in the approved budget.  The grants specialist will also determine whether evaluation plans require support by the Office of Shared Accountability, and whether data collected are available to the public. The grants specialist will share the results of that review with MCPS offices and departments that would be involved indirectly or directly in implementing the project.

Upon receipt of approval by all offices and departments with a stake in the project, the grants specialist will schedule a meeting between your organization and school officials. See the guidance related to partnering with schools for the next steps.