As part of the School Committee’s fiduciary oversight of the district, all grants, gifts, and donations to the district must be formally accepted by the School Committee prior to their use or expenditure, as required by MGL Ch. 71, sec. 37A:
School committees of cities and towns and regional district school committees may accept grants or gifts for educational purposes from federal, state, county and municipal governments or agencies thereof, charitable foundations and private corporations and disburse the same for such purposes.
Note that the word “may” in the above denotes not that such action is optional, but that the Committee has the discretion on acceptance or refusal of a grant or gift.
While grants and donations that come in over the course of the year should go before the Committee at the time of their receipt, it is best practice for Committees to consider the allocation of their formula grants–grants that the district receives every year by formula, like Title I or IDEA–as part of their budget process, as all funds for the year should be considered together. At that time, only projections of grant amounts will be available, as the grant awards only become available after the start of the Massachusetts fiscal year.
Once any grant award or donation is received, it should be approved by the Committee prior to its expenditure or use. As the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s grant manual template states:
After receiving a Grant Award Notice, all grants are approved by the School Committee. A grant cannot be established or set-up in [the district financial management system] without their official approval.
Committee members should be aware that state and federal grants generally require that plans for the funding be submitted with the application; funds received thus cannot be allocated entirely at the discretion of the School Committee.
In considering the acceptance of any grant or gift beyond those received by formula, it is wise for the Committee to consider if the grant, gift, or donation’s purpose aligns with goals set by the Committee? Grants in particular are contracts, which set requirements of the district in exchange for the funding. Are those in step with the priorities of the district? Grants and funding gifted to the district are, outside of formula grants, one time; does the district plan to spend the money in a way that is sustainable once the one-time funding is gone?
Committees also should consult their district naming policy when considering any donation that is offered in exchange for naming of a facility or other district resource.