Colorado § 22-105-105 - Grant program eligibility - application - criteria - awards.

§ 22-105-105. Grant program eligibility - application - criteria - awards.

(1) (a) To be eligible to receive a grant, a community-based organization must:

(I) Be a nonprofit organization with experience in providing before- and after-school programs for children or other supplemental enrichment programming to school-aged children;

(II) Have a relationship or partnership with a local school district that operates on a four-day school week in which the nonprofit organization provides or will provide supplemental enrichment programming and supports for children and families in the school district;

(III) Serve children in preschool through high school who attend public school in a school district that operates on a four-day week; and

(IV) Serve a majority of children who qualify for free or reduced-price meals under the federal "Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act", 42 U.S.C. sec. 1751 et seq., or whose families are at or below two hundred percent of the federal poverty level.

(b) To be eligible to receive a grant, an eligible rural school district must be operating on a four-day school week and:

(I) Have no eligible community-based organization that meets the eligibility requirements set forth in section 22-105-105 operating within the rural school district's boundaries; and

(II) Serve a majority of children who qualify for free or reduced-price meals under the federal "Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act", 42 U.S.C. sec. 1751 et seq., or whose families are at or below two hundred percent of the federal poverty level.

(2) To receive a grant, an eligible community-based organization or eligible rural school district shall submit an application to the department in accordance with rules promulgated by the state board. At a minimum, the application must include the following:

(a) Evidence that the community-based organization or eligible rural school district meets the eligibility requirements set forth in subsection (1) of this section;

(b) A description of the fifth-day academic enrichment and support program and the organization's or eligible rural school district's proposed uses of the grant money that are consistent with section 22-105-104; and

(c) A description of how the needs of students with disabilities will be addressed and accommodated.

(3) (a) The department shall review the applications received pursuant to this section to determine eligibility under the grant program. The state board shall award grants on a three-year grant cycle in the order qualifying applications are received. The state board shall determine the amount of the grants. The amount of the initial and renewal grants is based on the number of children served in the fifth-day academic enrichment and support program; except that the grant award amount may be capped, increased, or decreased based on the number and age of children served in the program, the number of grantees in the program, available appropriations, and any other relevant criteria as determined by the state board.

(b) The state board shall ensure that the amount of grants awarded over the three-year grant cycle to a grantee and the automatic renewal process are designed to achieve predictability for grantees and foster sustainable fifth-day academic enrichment and support programs.

(c) Each grant has an initial term of one year with automatic renewal annually for two additional years, subject to available appropriations, and contingent on the following:

(I) The grant recipient continuing to serve children in a fifth-day academic enrichment and support program;

(II) The grant recipient continuing to meet the eligibility requirements set forth in subsection (1) of this section;

(III) The grant recipient using grant money for purposes specified in section 22-105-104;

(IV) Successful implementation of supplemental enrichment programming and data associated with improved academic outcomes for participating children; and

(V) Any other reasonable criteria for renewal of the grant, as determined by the state board.

Source: L. 2021: Entire article added, (HB 21-1006), ch. 382, p. 2558, § 1, effective June 30.