Monday, July 11, 2022
A number of districts have contacted DPI about providing community childcare services this fall. Wisconsin school boards are allowed to provide non-instructional childcare as a community program and service to all district residents. By law and under WUFAR, these activities must be accounted for in the Community Service Fund (Fund 80).
The SFS Team strongly recommends that districts considering new or expanded child care programming this fall start by consulting the “Decision Tree for Potential Fund 80 Community Program or Service Costs” and other information on our Community Service Fund page. Roger Kordus is the SFS consultant responsible for Fund 80 and is available by email or phone to discuss questions or concerns you may have (see the bottom of this article for his contact information).
As child care is an eligible cost under ESSER, the WISEgrants team has added a Fund 80 sub-budget under ESSER to account for non-instructional child care and any other ESSER-eligible costs that may fall under the definition of community programs and services.
Non-instructional child care expenditures budgeted and reimbursed with ESSER grant funds are recorded in Fund 80 with project 160. The corresponding claim revenues would be coded to Fund 80, source 730. Although the period of performance for ESSER grants (March 13, 2020 to September 30, 2024) spans five fiscal years (from 2019-20 through 2024-25) it is a best practice to align budgeted expenditures and claim revenues within the same fiscal year.
For questions about the Community Service Fund (Fund 80), contact Roger Kordus (608) 267-3752. For questions about ESSER allowable costs, contact essergrants@dpi.wi.gov.