Monthly Communication

for Continuous Improvement and State & Federal Programs

MonthlyCommunicationfor Continuous Improvement and State & FederalPrograms

January 2024

Welcome to the monthly Continuous Improvement and State & Federal Programs communication. The purpose is to contextualize Continuous Improvement into our daily work, to efficiently complete all State and Federal Program tasks, and to promote moving these tasks past simple compliance. If this was forwarded to you, you are welcome to subscribe.

In This Issue

  • Upcoming Important Dates
  • Consolidated App Amendments are Open
  • State Grants Repository: Updated
  • Continuous Improvement PD and Updates
  • Working with Private Schools
  • Annual Education Report
  • MASFPS Spring Professional Learning Institute (S&F Programs PD)

Upcoming Important Dates (more info on all below)

  • 1/17 - MICIP Collaboration Series 9:00 - 11:00 (Register)
  • 1/24 - Quarterly Virtual S&F Programs Meeting 9:00 - 10:30 (Zoom Link)
  • 1/30 - 23g Budgets Due in NexSys
  • 2/15 - Annual Education Report Posting Deadline
  • 2/29 - Consolidated Application Due in NexSys
  • 2/29 - Private School Documentation Due in GEMS/MARS

Consolidated App Amendments are Open

Amendments are officially open (MDE 1/11/2024 Memo) with a due date of February 29. Shelly Patton, OES Team 2, released some guidance on a few of the stickier parts of the application. Here are some general highlights, but be sure to read Shelly's additional guidance for other details:
  • Use the Help Document! Have the help document open on one screen and the app open on another. Follow it from top to bottom.
  • Save the Review Grants Selections screen to pull in final allocations and carryover
  • Take the NexSys screens in order. Save every screen before moving on.

As a reminder, Title IA Schoolwide or Targeted Assistance Plans for each Title I school must be uploaded with the Con App Amendment.

State Grants Repository Updated

Our steering committee has updated the contents and functionality of the State Grants Repository.

  • Now includes all grants in PA 103 of 2023 ("FY24") and supplementals.

  • 15 grants have been added to the database.

  • Start and end dates for all grants now match legislation.

  • Now able to filter by Submission Date and Section Status.

Our next update push will be in March of 2024, but we will continue to curate resources as details emerge from MDE and other sources. If you have any information or resources are missing from the repository, please send them to me using the contact info at the bottom of the newsletter.

Continuous Improvement PD and Updates

Continuous Improvement Tasks for January

Program Monitoring, Benchmarking, Assessment calendars...lots of things to think about in January for Continuous Improvement. Be sure to read up on all suggestions and resources in the Continuous Improvement Monthly Checklist.


MICIP Collaboration Series

Registration is open for the 2024 MICIP Collaboration Series. Register Here (free, SCECHs available). All sessions are virtual from 9:00 - 11:00 AM.

  • Wednesday, January 17, 2024. Topic: Teams and Organizational Structures
  • Wednesday, March 13, 2024.Topic: Implementation
  • Wednesday, May 8, 2024. Topic: Monitor and Adjust


Concurrency Training

MDE has implemented a new feature in MICIP to allow multiple people to work in the platform at once. There are two training dates for the new feature: Tuesday, January 23 from 10:00 - 11:00 and Thursday, January 25 from 1:00 - 2:00.

Working With Private Schools

Compliance for 2023-2024

The MDE Memo released on 1/11/2024 outlined a requirement to provide documentation around private school services. The following information is required to be uploaded to GEMS/MARS by February 29th:

  • Sample In-District and Out-of-District Letters
  • Consultation documents for each private school

Forms and samples are available on the MDE Technical Assistance for Working with Private Schools webpage.

**At the time of this writing, there appears to be some issues with this GEMS submission. I recommend holding off a few weeks on this one so some bugs can be worked out. I have communicated with MDE about the issue.**


Equitable Services for 2024-2025

Thinking ahead a few weeks, February is the month to start the Equitable Services process for the 2024/2025 school year. LEAs that receive federal funds are required to seek out private schools in their district boundaries as well as private schools outside their boundaries that may have students from their area attending and invite them to consult about providing equitable services for students and teachers at their schools. Please see this quick-start guide.

Annual Education Report

The Annual Education Report process is now open. AERs are required to be posted to district/school webpages by February 15th.

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MASFPS Spring Professional Learning Institute

It's time to get registered for the 2024 Spring Professional Learning Institute with the Michigan Association of State and Federal Program Supervisors (MASFPS). The PLI is April 24th and 25th at the Crowne Plaza in Lansing. See the full agenda here and our great lineup of breakouts for the afternoon of the 25th here.

  • Registration Link
  • Special room rate at the Crowne Plaza of $134 (plus taxes and fees) if reservations are made by March 25
  • Use block code PLI to get the conference rate

Quarterly Virtual S&F Programs Meetings

The following State and Federal Programs meetings are open to everyone, statewide. The meetings are typically well attended by reps from MDE OES and program directors from many districts and ISDs across the state. Same Zoom Link for all: https://muskegonisd-org.zoom.us/j/6740302165
  • Wednesday, October 18, 2023 (Dashboard/Notes from the meeting)
  • Wednesday, January 24, 2024 from 9:00 - 10:30
  • Wednesday, March 20, 2024 from 9:00 - 10:30
  • TENTATIVE MDE Spring Workshop at MAISD, May 31, 2024 from 9:00 to noon (other locations will be held regionally across the state)
David Hundt
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