Dear County and District Superintendents and Charter School Administrators:

Middle School Foundation Academies Planning Grant

The California Department of Education (CDE) is pleased to announce the availability of funds through the Proposition 98 Career Technical Education Initiative that was included in the 2018–19 State budget. This planning grant provides $250,000 to use as start-up funds for 10 middle school career academies ($25,000 per academy).

The purpose of the Request for Application (RFA) is to establish Middle School Foundation Academies (MSFA) to prepare students for acceptance into California Partnership Academies.

Application materials are available on the CDE Funding web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/fo/.

Please follow the guidelines below when responding to the RFA:

• This RFA is only for school districts or charter schools serving middle school grades based on the configuration at the local educational agencies.
• This will be in preparation for implementation of an MSFA for grades seven and eight in the fall semester of 2020–21.
• Programs meeting these requirements may apply for this one-time funding of $25,000 for this planning grant.
• The MSFA Planning Grant Application must be postmarked on or before February 22, 2019.

If you have any questions regarding this RFA, please contact Teri Alves, Education Programs Consultant, High School Innovations and Initiatives Office, at 916-322-0374 or talves@cde.ca.gov.

Sincerely,

Tony Thurmond

TT:pc
2018-06241