The MDE announced the awards for the 99h Grant. As in years past, there was not enough money to award everyone 100% of what they applied for.

• All public districts were awarded 76% of the amount requested.
•  All non-public districts were awarded 73% of the amount requested.

Payouts will likely be in March and will be a lump sum. The district will not receive a check. Instead:

• Public districts will receive their lump sum awards through the district’s electronic monthly state aid payment from the state. The district should see the robotics award on line 99h of the statement accompanying the payment.
• Non-public schools should receive their lump sum payment via SIGMA.

These are important points to discuss with your district:

• The stipend requires a 25% match from the district (and is subject to taxes).
• The funds can be spent on any expenses related to your team. This includes T-shirts, travel, food, robot parts, etc. even if these items were not listed in the budget section of your application.
• The funds are SOLELY for the team awarded.
• Funds from this MDE grant must be spent by September 30, 2024.
• If you want to use this year’s leftover MDE funds to pay for next year’s registration, FIRST will gladly create an invoice for your team starting in August.

You can find the total amount of your team’s award through one of the links listed below. The amount reflected in both of these docs is the TOTAL award, meaning the stipend and the team support have been added together.  We requested a report from the MDE with the breakdown between the stipend and team support. We hope to have it soon.

     1.  Techplan.org
https://www.techplan.org/downloads/pdfs/2023-2024_99h_robotics_competition_grant.pdf
(Please note that public districts are listed first, with non-publics starting after page 118. Try control F to find your district.)

     2.  Our spreadsheet, which you may find easier to use:

(Please note that the awards for public and non-public districts are on separate tabs.)

Feel free to contact me with any questions or contact Ashley Arras at the MDE:

Ashley Arras

517-241-6966