The Ohio Department of Education has canceled or postponed several events leading up to the 21st Century Community Learning Center awards for 2017, however the application deadline is not expected to change.
In a series of recent posts and emails, the state has announced the following:
- Next week’s bidders conference will be postponed until March
- The application opening for 2017 funding will be delayed
- The annual summit is canceled, to be resumed next year (that includes the awards program and associated Brown Bag events)
To some existing grantees and prospective applicants, this series of delays and cancelations might seem worrisome. However, the federal funding does not appear to be in doubt. It seems, rather, that the timing of federal Every Student Succeeds Act requirements of the state agency are unexpectedly affecting the timeline of other programs.
Importantly, we do not expect Ohio to delay the application deadline beyond the usual March/April timeframe. Any delay there could affect award notifications (usually in late June or July), putting at risk program start dates, which are federally mandated. Instead, we expect a shorter application window.
All in all, continuing applications and new applications should be underway as if nothing has changed. Although there are likely to be some changes in the 2017 application from previous years, there are not likely to be big changes.