MDE Grant is OPEN TODAY!
Happy opening day of the MDE FIRST Robotics state grant! The tentative funding levels for this year’s grant are incredible. Imagine the extra parts, class packs that this grant could help make possible allowing teams to continue to engage students in FIRST while keeping safe.
MDE GRANT OPENS NOV 12, CLOSES DEC 11
The State Grant is scheduled to open today, Thursday, Nov 12, and close on Dec 11 at 11:59 pm. During this time your district administration will be able to go in and apply for the state grant through the Michigan Dept. of Education’s (MDE) MEGS+ system (Michigan Electronic Grants System).
FTC GRANT AMOUNTS
FIRST Tech Challenge teams will get a maximum of:
$4,000 Rookie
$3,000 Returning teams
PLUS $1,500 Coach Stipend (one per building, per program level)
*Actual stipend and team support amounts may change based on availability of funding
REMOTE/VIRTUAL OFFERINGS COUNT
This season, your team’s participation in a FIRST in Michigan FTC official remote event, traditional event, OR in the 100% virtual FIRST Innovation Challenge will satisfy the competition requirement under the MDE grant. Details on the FIRST Innovation Challenge will be shared soon by FIRST.
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE WEBINARS
The MDE will offer two identical 90-minute technical assistance webinars on how to access the system and how to fill out the application:
Dates: November 18 or November 20
Time: 3:00 p.m on both dates
Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87870368059?pwd=L0lZOEt5eDM5OExOajRhZnFuU0s2Zz09#success
Meeting ID: 878 7036 8059
Passcode: 03Fj5q
ALL PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SCHOOLS ELIGIBLE
All public and non-public school districts are eligible for the grant. This includes public districts, academies, charters and even private schools. If you are a community based team, rather than a school based team and you have public school students on your team, you may be able to have your local ISD apply for you. Private schools will have to go through a few extra steps to get set up in the system if this is their first year applying, so please allow extra time for this.
TEAMS MUST BE FULLY REGISTERED WITH FIRST
Teams must be fully registered for the 2020-21 season by the time the grant closes to be eligible for an award under this grant. Registration guides with screenshots are linked:
Registration instructions for Veteran Teams.
Registration instructions for Rookie Teams: Rookies-do NOT pay season reg. fee until you’ve applied/received decision for FIRST HQ FTC rookie team grant.
FIND YOUR ADMINISTRATOR WITH LEVEL 5 CLEARANCE
There is usually only one person in the district with the MEGS+ login and password, known as the Level 5. This person is usually found in the Superintendent’s or Finance office. For Charter schools, the Level 5 may be in the office of the managing partner. It is possible for the Level 5 to give the coach Level 4 access to input all team data, but the Level 5 is the only one who can hit submit.
ONE DISTRICT WIDE MEGS+ APPLICATION
Each school district fills out just ONE application with separate pages for each of its teams at all levels.
Example: A district has 1 FRC team, 2 FTC teams, 3 FLL Challenge teams, 1 FLL Explore teams and 1 Discovery set. All of those teams are input separately on the ONE application. And all go into the single spending plan too.
Please do not wait until the last minute to fill out the grant. The MDE is often inundated in the final week and response times can be quite long. Once your application has been submitted, you can make changes only by calling/emailing the MDE to open your application up for modifications. All modifications must be submitted prior to Dec 11 at 11:59 pm.
Step-by-step guide to filling out the State MDE grant: https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vRt2rthfRRwzRVwM_Ok8kARUmYLTslhKf60nfojydCShLMDEEwyRUHvAMztxG9V9g9Nw771DnP-zHt-/pub
All official MDE grant documents will be available here: These include Request for Proposal (RFP), spending plan template, and other resources https://www.techplan.org/edtech-initiatives/rdi/competitive-99h-robotics-competition-grant/.
GRANT AMOUNTS
HIGH SCHOOL (Registration fee this season is $3,000 for rookies, $2,000 for returning teams)
FIRST Robotics Competition teams will get a maximum of:
$9,000 Yr 1
$8,000 Yr 2
$7,000 Yr 3
$6,000 Yr 4
$5,000 Yr 5 and beyond
PLUS $1,500 Coach Stipend (one per building, per program level)
*Actual stipend and team support amounts may change based on availability of funding
MIDDLE SCHOOL
FIRST Tech Challenge teams will get a maximum of:
$4,000 Rookie
$3,000 Returning teams
PLUS $1,500 Coach Stipend (one per building, per program level)
*Actual stipend and team support amounts may change based on availability of funding
UPPER ELEMENTARY
FIRST LEGO League-Challenge teams will get a maximum of:
$800 Rookie
$500 Returning teams
PLUS $1,500 Coach Stipend (one per building, per program level)
*Actual stipend and team support amounts may change based on availability of funding
LOWER ELEMENTARY K-3
FIRST LEGO League-Explore teams will get a maximum of:
$350 Rookie
$200 Returning teams
PLUS $1,500 Coach Stipend (one per building, per program level)
*Actual stipend and team support amounts may change based on availability of funding
PRE-K
FIRST LEGO League-Discover teams will get a maximum of:
$400 All teams
PLUS $1,500 Coach Stipend (one per building, per program level)
*Actual stipend and team support amounts may change based on availability of funding
Feel free to reach out to me at any time with questions or requests for assistance.
