Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE): Charter School Program (CSP): CSP Developer Grants for The Opening of New Charter Schools, Assistance Listing Number 84.282B | ED GRANTS 042424 004

Opportunity Information: Apply for ED GRANTS 042424 004

The Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE) Charter School Program (CSP) Developer Grants for the Opening of New Charter Schools (Assistance Listing Number 84.282B) is a discretionary grant opportunity from the U.S. Department of Education designed to help charter school developers bring new charter schools into operation. The program is rooted in Title IV, Part C of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). In practical terms, this competition is meant to provide early-stage funding that supports the planning, design, and initial implementation work needed to open a new charter school, with a strong emphasis on expanding access to high-quality public school options for students who have historically been underserved.

At the core of this opportunity is the broader mission of the Charter School Program. CSP aims to expand educational opportunities for all students, and it explicitly highlights children with disabilities, English learners, and other traditionally underserved students as priority populations whose access should be strengthened. Alongside expanding options, the program is intended to help charter schools meet challenging state academic standards, increase the number of high-quality charter schools nationally, and encourage the field to learn from what works. The notice also reflects CSPs broader goals of evaluating charter school impacts on student achievement and on families and communities, sharing best practices between charter schools and traditional public schools, and supporting improvements in quality, accountability, and transparency across the authorizing and oversight landscape. Even though this specific funding stream is aimed at developers, the program is situated in a larger federal effort that also includes support for facilities and for strengthening the charter authorizing process.

This particular Assistance Listing (84.282B) focuses on opening new charter schools, and the Department describes the funding as enabling developers to open and prepare for operation. Funded schools may provide elementary education, secondary education, or both, and they may also serve early childhood or postsecondary students if that is consistent with the terms of their charter. The grant is therefore flexible with respect to grade span, as long as the school meets the legal definition and operates under an approved charter consistent with state law.

Eligibility is narrow and tied to both the applicants status as a developer and the state context. Eligible applicants are charter school developers that (a) have applied to an authorized public chartering authority to operate a charter school and (b) have provided adequate and timely notice to that authorizer. In addition, the charter school must be located in a state that has a charter school law specifically authorizing charter schools, and the state must not currently have a CSP State Entity grant (Assistance Listing Number 84.282A) under ESEA section 4303. In other words, this developer competition is targeted to states that do not already have an active state-level CSP grantmaking entity; it is intended to fill that gap by allowing developers to apply directly for federal support.

The notice also clarifies an important boundary around what counts as the initial implementation phase. As a general rule, the Department considers charter schools that have been operating for more than five years to be beyond initial implementation and therefore ineligible for CSP funds under 84.282B for opening a new school (and similarly ineligible for replication grants under 84.282E). The one carve-out mentioned is that older schools may still be eligible under 84.282E if they are pursuing expansion as a high-quality charter school. For 84.282B specifically, the intent is clearly start-up support for new school openings rather than ongoing operational subsidy for mature schools.

The competition details provided in the synopsis indicate this is a grant (funding instrument type: Grant) under the education funding activity category, with an original closing date of June 24, 2024. The anticipated maximum award (ceiling) is $2,000,000, and the Department expected to make about 14 awards. The opportunity is listed under Funding Opportunity Number ED GRANTS 042424 004. While the synopsis does not spell out the full application package requirements, it emphasizes that the authoritative requirements, priorities, performance measures, and submission instructions are contained in the official Federal Register notice, and it points applicants to the Department of Educations Revised Common Instructions for Applicants to Department of Education Discretionary Grant Programs (published December 7, 2022) for general submission and procedural guidance.

Finally, the synopsis includes a note on how an applicant can document nonprofit status under 34 CFR 75.51, which matters because many charter developers are nonprofit organizations and may need to prove that status in their application. Acceptable documentation can include IRS recognition as a 501(c)(3), state certification from a taxing body or attorney general, incorporation documents showing nonprofit status, or documentation from a parent organization paired with a statement confirming the applicant is a local nonprofit affiliate. This documentation pathway is included to clarify what the Department will accept as evidence when nonprofit status is relevant to the application.

• The Department of Education in the education sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE): Charter School Program (CSP): CSP Developer Grants for The Opening of New Charter Schools, Assistance Listing Number 84.282B" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 84.282.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-04-24.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-06-24. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $2,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 14 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

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