Dear Select County Superintendents of Schools:

First Apportionment for the
Immediate Aid to Restart School Operations Program
Every Student Succeeds Act
Fiscal Year 2019–20

This apportionment, in the amount of $15,828,944, is made from federal funds provided to the state by the 2019 Immediate Aid to Restart School Operations Program (Restart program), authorized by the Additional Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief Act of 2019, P.L. 116-20 (June 6, 2019). The Restart program is designed to support the provision of immediate services or assistance to local educational agencies (LEAs) and nonpublic schools in areas where a major disaster or emergency was declared under sections 401 and 501 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Title 42 of the United States Code, sections 5170 and 5190) related to the consequences of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria or the California wildfires in calendar year 2018 and floods in calendar year 2019 (“a covered disaster or emergency”).

Amounts in this apportionment are paid pursuant to assurances submitted to the California Department of Education (CDE) and the accompanying apportionment schedule; amounts include reimbursement payments to LEAs that submitted reimbursement requests, as well as advance funding for services to be provided for impacted students. Apportionments are processed for those LEAs that applied for the Restart program and submitted required documentation and assurances to the CDE. Funds are to be used to assist school administrators and personnel in restarting school operations, re-opening schools, and re-enrolling students.

Warrants will be mailed to county treasurers approximately three weeks from the date of this Notice. For standardized account code structure coding, use Resource Code 5654, Immediate Aid to Restart School Operations (Restart), and Revenue Object Code 8290, All Other Federal Revenue.

CDE notified county superintendents of schools of this apportionment by email to the CDEfisc email address and requested that the email be forwarded to school districts and charter schools. A copy of this letter and the accompanying apportionment schedule are posted on the CDE’s web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/ca/.

The United States Department of Education (ED) grant award number for this funding is S938A200006. The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance subprogram number is 84.938 (Elementary and Secondary Education Hurricane Relief – Immediate Aid to Restart School Operations). The funding is appropriated in Schedule (1) of Item 6100-102-0890 of the Budget Act of 2019 (Chapters 23/55/80/363, Statutes of 2019) as amended by Section 28. The California sub-allocation (pass-through) number is Program Cost Account (PCA) 15389.

This grant is subject to the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards set out in Title 2 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 200, and the Education Department General Administrative Regulations in 34 CFR parts 76, 77, 79, 81, 82, 84, 97, 98, and 99; 2 CFR Part 3485; 2 CFR Part 175, and Presidential Executive Order 13513. Under the provisions of the grant award, funds must be obligated within the period of December 18, 2019 through December 17, 2021, and liquidated within 90 days following the obligation deadline. 

Pursuant to 2 CFR, Section 200.305(b)(9), interest earned amounts up to $500 per year may be retained by the non-Federal entity for administrative expense. Any additional interest earned on Federal advance payments deposited in interest-bearing accounts must be remitted annually. LEAs should forward interest payments for remittance to the ED to:

California Department of Education
Cashier’s Office
P.O. Box 515006
Sacramento, CA 95851

To ensure proper posting of payments, please indicate the program’s PCA number (PCA 15389), and identify the payment as “Federal Interest Returned.”

Additional information on the Restart program is available on the CDE’s web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/ca/restart.asp. The US Department of Education has published Immediate Aid to Restart School Operations - Frequently Asked Questions (December 2019), available at https://www2.ed.gov/programs/restart/faq.html.

If you have any questions regarding the Restart program, please contact Lesley Taylor, Operations and Administration Branch, by email at ltaylor@cde.ca.gov.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Dearstyne, Director
School Fiscal Services Division