Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers Grant

The Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) - Statewide program is a discretionary competitive funding opportunity administered through the Florida Department of Education, Bureau of Family and Community Outreach, under Assistance Listing Number 84.287 and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act, Title IV, Part B. The program is supported by federal funding allocated to FDOE by the U.S. Department of Education. Its purpose is to create community learning centers that provide academic enrichment during non-school hours, particularly for students attending high-poverty and low-performing schools. Programs are expected to help students meet state academic standards, provide a broad array of enrichment opportunities that complement regular academic programming, and provide literacy and other educational services to participating students' adult family members. FDOE states that $25,000,000 is available for this competition, contingent on its allocation from the U.S. Department of Education. Individual awards have a stated minimum of $75,000 and a maximum of $500,000, with approximately 20 to 30 awards anticipated. The overall program performance period is four years, from August 1, 2026 through July 31, 2030, with awards issued annually subject to successful implementation, approved performance expectations, fiscal and programmatic compliance, and continued availability of funding. The first funded budget period is August 1, 2026 through July 31, 2027. No matching contribution is required. Allowable costs must directly support the program purpose and may include appropriate project staff, materials, supplies, consultants, printing, meeting space and other relevant administrative or program costs. Administrative costs are capped at 10 percent of the award and evaluation costs at 3 percent. Contracts generally may not exceed 25 percent of the total budget, except individual subcontracts with certified teachers and transportation costs. Unallowable expenditures include entertainment, most meals and snacks, gift cards, incentives, promotional items, facilities or vehicle purchases, furniture, tuition, capital improvements and other costs prohibited by applicable federal requirements. Eligible applicants include local educational agencies, community-based organizations, Indian tribes or tribal organizations, other public or private entities, including faith-based and for-profit private entities, and consortia consisting of two or more eligible agencies, organizations or entities. An organization may not apply on behalf of another entity; the applicant completing the DOE 100A Project Application form must be the operator of the proposed 21st CCLC program. Eligible participants are students in prekindergarten through grade 12 and their adult family members. Priority is placed on students attending schools identified for Comprehensive Support and Intervention, Targeted Support and Intervention, Additional Targeted Support and Improvement, or schools identified by their local educational agency as needing intervention and support. Each proposal may include no more than two community learning center sites, and each proposed center may target no more than four eligible schools. Applications must be completed through the Department's online system, identified in the RFP as Survey Monkey, and must be received by May 11, 2026 at 12:00 p.m. EDT. Required submission elements include the DOE 100A Project Application Form, DOE 101S Budget Narrative Form, applicable Risk Analysis form, and all required signatures. The proposal contains 14 scored narrative sections covering the project abstract, applicant experience and capacity, community needs, community notice, partnerships, target population and recruitment, service schedule, local evaluation, authorized activities, staffing, facilities, safety and transportation, program budget and sustainability. Required or conditionally required attachments include Site Profile Worksheets, funding request guides, component schedules, a Partners Table, documentation of tangible partner contributions, sample job descriptions, licensing or exemption documentation where applicable, and other forms specified by applicant type. Private colleges, community-based organizations and other agencies must also submit certification of adherence to the General Assurances with each application. The application is scored on a 100-point scale. The highest-weighted sections are Authorized Program Activities and Program Budget at 15 points each, while Partnerships and Collaboration, Times and Frequency of Service Provision, Local Level Program Evaluation, and Staffing, Volunteers and Professional Learning are worth 10 points each. Priority points are considered only after an application earns at least 70 points and may be available for serving students from high-poverty schools, qualifying partnerships targeting CSI, TSI or ATSI schools, serving only students in grades 9 through 12, serving students in an eligible rural district, or applying as an agency that would otherwise have no 21st CCLC continuation projects in the 2026-27 program year. Afterschool programming is mandatory, and proposals without an afterschool component are disqualified. Applications that include non-eligible target schools are not considered. Partner documentation must identify tangible contributions; letters expressing only general support do not receive scoring consideration. An optional notice of intent to apply was due April 3, 2026 by email to 21stCCLCRFP@fldoe.org. The RFP expressly states that submitting the notice was not required for an application to be considered, and entities filing a notice were not obligated to submit an application. April 3, 2026 was also the last date on which FDOE would accept questions about the RFP. Program questions may be directed to Contobia Horsey-Adams, 21st CCLC State Director, at 850-245-9209, while the RFP provides 21stCCLCRFP@fldoe.org as the official email address for application-related questions. Funded programs are subject to ongoing accountability and must submit monthly deliverables, generally due on the fifth day of each month, including attendance and program participation information and additional performance data as applicable. The solicitation does not state that this RFP automatically recurs annually or provide a future application cycle date, so no recurring application cycle is inferred from the annual issuance of continuation awards.

Prioritize direct services to eligible students and families; verify every target school meets the RFP eligibility criteria because applications containing non-eligible schools will not be considered; include afterschool programming because proposals without it are disqualified; align activities with the needs assessment state academic standards and measurable outcomes; make partner letters and MOUs identify tangible contributions because general support letters do not count for scoring; keep the budget consistent with the Site Profile Worksheet and funding request guide and at or below $500,000; keep administrative costs at or below 10% and evaluation costs at or below 3%; note that priority points are considered only after the application earns at least 70 base points