Under 2019 Act 9, the Personal Electronic Computing Devices Grant is no longer funded, effective with the 2019-20 school year.
Funding Available per School or District
Every school district and school (private, charter, or tribal) with 9th grade students is eligible to receive funding under the grant.
- Funding will be provided by reimbursing documented eligible purchases
- Maximum funding is $125 per ninth grade student
- Although the funding formula is based on number of 9th graders, funds can be used to support all grade levels
- The grant is designed to fully fund every applicant, but if requests exceed total available funds, awards will be proportionately reduced
- Schools and districts must provide matching funding
How are 9th graders counted?
Per the grant statute (s. 115.438), public and private schools are treated differently.
- Public school districts and district charter schools:
- 9th grade counts are based on prior year membership
- The School Financial Services (SFS) Team in the Department has provided a web page providing guidance on how provide SFS with your district's 9th 2017-2018 ninth grade membership.
- Independent charter schools, private schools, and tribal schools:
- 9th grade counts are based on current year enrollment data
- Because of this, the grant application each year cannot be released until mid-November, after private school student counts are known and their maximum grant amounts can be calculated.
How should purchases, reimbursements, and matching funds be coded under the grant?
For this grant the source will be 630 and the project will be 296. The object and functions should be like any other expenditure with consideration given to the new WUFAR technology code changes that should be out in September. The department has determined that we will not be prescribing a required coding method for the matching funds for this grant.
How is open enrollment treated?
Open enrollment students are counted in the district where they live, not the district where they attend school.
- The statute requires DPI to use the number of 9th grade pupils included in the school district's membership in the previous school year for public school districts.
- A district’s membership is based on its resident pupils.
- Thus, 9th grade pupils who are open-enrolled out of district will be included in the membership count for the school district in which they reside.