Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 39, September 25, 2024
(a) Definitions. For purposes of section
612
(4) of the Education Law and of this section:
(1) Eligible applicant means:
(i) a degree granting postsecondary
institution or a consortium of such institutions, in cooperation with school
districts and not-for-profit community-based organizations; or
(ii) in an area of the State in which there
is no degree-granting postsecondary institution that will provide appropriate
services to eligible students, a not- for-profit community-based organization
in cooperation with a local school district.
(2) Eligible student means a student enrolled
in a New York State public or nonpublic intermediate school, middle school,
junior high school or high school who has been identified as having a high risk
of dropping out of school as measured by academic performance, attendance,
discipline problems, and other factors affecting school performance, including
but not limited to teenage pregnancy or parenting, residence in a homeless
shelter or temporary living arrangement, substance abuse, child abuse or
neglect, or limited English proficiency.
(3) Base year means the school year
immediately preceding the current year as defined pursuant to section
3602
(1) of the Education Law.
(4) Enrollment means the number of children
on a regular enrollment register of a public school district as reported to the
commissioner as the enrollment on the date prior to November 1st that is
specified by the commissioner as the enrollment reporting date for the school
district, plus the number of children receiving home instruction in the school
district on such date, excluding children for whom equivalent attendance must
be computed pursuant to section
3602
(1) of the Education Law.
(b) Applications.
(1) Eligible applicants seeking a grant shall
submit, by dates prescribed by the commissioner, a comprehensive plan
describing the supportive services and counseling activities to be provided to
eligible students using the grant funds. Such plans shall be in a form
prescribed by the commissioner and shall include, but shall not be limited to:
(i) strategies for identifying students who
are at risk of dropping out of secondary school;
(ii) a program for encouraging the use of
volunteers, parental involvement and the involvement of current or former
liberty scholarship recipients;
(iii) a program to provide continuity of
services throughout a student's progression through secondary school;
(iv) a proposed budget;
(v) the following services and activities;
(a) skills assessment;
(b) tutoring;
(c) academic, personal, and family counseling
and home visits;
(d) staff
development for personnel with direct responsibility for eligible students;
and
(e) a student mentoring
program;
(vi) a
description of how the eligible applicant proposes to develop cooperative
relationships with school districts and not-for-profit community-based
organizations; and
(vii) a program
evaluation plan.
(c) Criteria for the award of grants. Liberty
partnerships grants may be awarded to eligible applicants for programs that
provide services and activities eligible for funding pursuant to section
612
(2) of the Education Law to eligible
students. In awarding such grants, the commissioner shall give priority to, but
shall not be limited to, applications which meet the criteria set forth in
section
612
(1)(b) of the Education Law and applications
from eligible applicants with experience and a record of success in operating
similar programs directed at the target population.
(d) Reports. Each grant recipient shall
submit an interim report and an annual report in a form and by dates to be
prescribed by the commissioner, and such additional reports as the commissioner
may require. The content of the interim and annual reports shall include:
(1) a demonstration of compliance with the
approved plan;
(2) a showing of how
the objectives of the program are being met;
(3) the services and activities provided to
eligible students by the program;
(4) the background and progress of the
participating students;
(5)
performance of the program in meeting the evaluation standards;
(6) an accounting of the expenditure of grant
funds; and
(7) such additional
information on the program as the commissioner may require.