FY 2025 CSI LEA AFF Instructions

GMART Logon
Grant Management and Reporting Tool (GMART) is a web-based platform that allows LEAs to complete and submit AFFs, modify funding plans, and submit expenditure data.

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Log on credentials are emailed to County and District Superintendents and Charter School Administrators.

• Passwords are case-sensitive and cannot be reset or changed by the LEA.
  
  
• If more than three failed login attempts are made within one hour, the account will be locked, and an automated notification will be sent to the School Improvement and Support Office (SISO) mailbox for support.
  
  
• Once the account is unlocked, the LEA’s three designated contacts, listed under the LEA Contact Information tab, will receive two emails containing the LEA’s logon credentials.

Contact the SISO by phone at 916-319-0833 or by email at SISO@cde.ca.gov for assistance.

GMART Home Page for CSI

For each FY, the GMART home page displays the ESSA CSI LEA AFF link to initiate the web-based application process. Once selected, the LEA will be redirected to the "Application Overview" section to begin the application.

• LEAs with at least one Dashboard Alternative School Status (DASS) Community of Practice (CoP) school eligible under the CSI Low Graduation Rate criteria with less than 100 enrolled students will be required to complete the DASS CoP Intent to Implement CSI tab in GMART before it may access the AFF. LEAs with eligible school/s/ will automatically be redirected to the "DASS CoP Intent to Implement CSI" section. For instructions on how to complete this section, please view the DASS CoP Intent to Implement CSI Instructions web page.

Application Process

The ESSA CSI LEA AFF is web-based and includes an Application Overview and six sections. To receive ESSA, Section 1003 school improvement funding, eligible LEAs must complete and submit the AFF on or before the due date.

To begin the web-based application, an LEA must first review the "Application Overview" section. Once the LEA has reached the “Eligibility Requirements” section within the Application Overview, the LEA will select the “Select to Display More Information” button at the bottom of the page to continue. The LEA will repeat this process until it has read all related content in this section. Once all of the information has been reviewed, the LEA must select the “Save and Continue to Section 1” button at the bottom of the page to advance to Section 1 of the application.

The bullets below describe each of the six sections of the application.

• Section 1: Intent to Apply—Each LEA that has at least one school eligible for CSI and intends to apply for funding must select the LEA “Intends to apply” check box in Section 1 of the online application. By selecting this check box, the LEA can now select the “Save and Continue to Section 2” button to advance to Section 2 of the application.
  
  If the LEA selects the “Does Not Intend to apply” checkbox, the LEA must indicate the reason it chooses to not accept funding in the textbox provided before the LEA can advance to Section 6 of the application to certify its intention to not apply for funding and to sign and submit the application.
  
  
• Section 2: General Assurances, Certifications, Terms, and Conditions—The LEA must review and adhere to the requirements of the general assurances, certifications, and terms and conditions as a condition of receiving funds. Once all of the information has been reviewed, the LEA must select the “Save and Continue to Section 3” button at the bottom of the page to advance to Section 3 of the application.
  
  
• Section 3: LEA Applicant Information—The LEA Applicant information is prepopulated into the GMART. The LEA must verify the accuracy of its applicant information, including physical address, Preliminary LEA Allocation Amount, and County/District code. If the information is accurate, the LEA will select the “The LEA Applicant Information is accurate” checkbox. The LEA can now enter contact information for the Primary, Secondary, and Fiscal Coordinators by selecting the “Edit Contact Information” button at the bottom of the page. All contact fields must be completed in order to continue to Section 4. If the LEA has only one Primary Grant Coordinator, it must duplicate that information for the Secondary Grant Coordinator.
  
  
  • First and Last Name
  • Title
  • Phone
  • Extension
  • Email
  
  If the LEA applicant information is inaccurate, the LEA will select “The LEA Applicant Information is inaccurate” checkbox then select the “Save and Logoff” button at the bottom of the page and contact the SISO by phone at 916-319-0833 or by email at SISO@cde.ca.gov for assistance.
  
  
• Section 4: Narrative Responses—The LEA must provide complete written responses with a maximum of 500 characters each for Prompts 1 and 2, and 1000 characters each for Prompts 3 and 4.
  
  
  • If the LEA will not add additional information to Prompts 1, 2, and/or 4, type NA for the response.
    
    
  • Prompt 3 requires a complete response.
    
    
    • LEAs that were eligible and accepted school improvement funds in the previous year will be required to complete Part I and Part II of Prompt 3.
      
      
    • LEAs that were eligible and declined school improvement funds in the previous year will only have one part to complete.
      
      
  To continue to Section 5, all four prompts must include a response. Once all of the information has been reviewed, the LEA must select the “Save and Continue to Section 5” button at the bottom of the page to advance to Section 5 of the application.
  
  
• Section 5: Preliminary Funding Plan—The LEA must complete a funding plan based on the prepopulated preliminary allocation. The LEA will distribute its preliminary allocation among its CSI-eligible schools by selecting the “Edit” button under the “LEA Action” column and inputting data into the “Preliminary Distribution Amount” column. Once data has been entered, the LEA must select the “Update” button to save the data or the “Cancel” button to cancel the entered data. To continue to Section 6, the preliminary allocation amount must equal the total distributed amount. Once all of the data is accurately entered, the LEA must select the “Save and Continue to Section 6” button at the bottom of the page to advance to Section 6 of the application.
  
  
  • If an LEA with at least one DASS CoP school eligible under the CSI Low Graduation Rate criteria with less than 100 enrolled students chooses to forgo implementation of all CSI-related improvement activities pursuant to ESSA, Section 1111(d)(1)(C)(ii) on behalf of its DASS CoP eligible school/s/, then the LEA will also forgo the CSI funding associated with that specific school/s/, thus, reducing the LEA’s total allocation amount.
    
    
    • The Preliminary Funding Plan table will include a new column “New Adjusted Preliminary LEA Allocation (Declined Funding for DASS CoP School/s/)”, as applicable.
      
      
    • LEAs will not be able to distribute preliminary funding to any DASS CoP school/s/ for which it has declined to implement CSI. School improvement funds may not be expended at or on behalf of school/s/ for which funding has been declined or that are otherwise ineligible.
      
      
  The table below is a display of the proposed Preliminary Funding Plan that the LEA will complete in the GMART.

FY 2025–26 Preliminary Funding Plan

• Section 6: Signatures—Each LEA must review the terms and conditions, select the necessary checkboxes, and sign the application electronically in order to submit the application. Once the application is submitted by the LEA, a notification will display confirming that the California Department of Education (CDE) has received the application. After submitting the application, the LEA can use the “Print Submitted Application” button to print a copy of the application for its records.
  
  The CDE will review the submitted application. If the application is approved, the LEA’s primary, secondary, and fiscal coordinators will receive an email notification of approval. If a revision is needed, the LEA contacts will receive an email notification that the application must be revised. To revise the application, the LEA must log in to the GMART and review the “Notes” column within the Application Status table and make the necessary revisions. Once all revisions have been completed, the LEA must resubmit the application (see Section 6 instructions) by the due date.

CDE Contact Information

For questions related to the CSI LEA AFF, please contact the SISO by email at SISO@cde.ca.gov or by phone at 916-319-0833.

For questions regarding CSI eligibility criteria and determinations, please contact the Accountability Development and Policy Analysis Unit by email at Dashboard@cde.ca.gov.

For questions regarding CSI allocations and apportionments, please contact the Categorical Allocations and Audit Resolution Office by email at CAAR@cde.ca.gov.

For information regarding the CSI planning process, please contact the Local Agency Systems Support Office by phone at 916-323-LCFF (5233) or by email at LCFF@cde.ca.gov.

Resources

For instructions on how to complete the DASS CoP Intent to Implement CSI, please view the DASS CoP Intent to Implement CSI Instructions web page.

To access the ESSA CSI LEA Webinars, please visit the ESSA School Support Webinar Resources web page.

For additional information related to CSI, please visit the CDE CSI web page.