The Maine Department of Education will once again be accepting applications for School Improvement Grant (SIG) funding during the 2016-17 school year. Grant awards made under this program could yield up to $1.5 million each to help close achievement gaps.
Last year, the Department issued a $1.6 million SIG award to Washburn Elementary School. These funds are currently supporting interventions that will help raise student proficiency in math by 30 percent and reading by 35 percent over the five year grant award.
The SIG program seeks to provide federal funding to support schools in most need of additional resources to substantially raise student achievement. In Maine, schools categorized as “priority” under the State’s Title I accountability system, are eligible to apply. Eligible schools for this competition include:
| District Name | School Name |
| Andover Public Schools | Andover Elementary School |
| East Range CSD | East Range II CSD School |
| Eastport Public Schools | Shead High School |
| Harmony Public Schools | Harmony Elementary |
| Machiasport Public Schools | Fort O’Brien School |
| Robbinston Public Schools | Robbinston Grade School |
| RSU 03/MSAD 03 | Monroe Elementary School |
| RSU 03/MSAD 03 | Mt View Elementary School |
| RSU 03/MSAD 03 | Troy Central School |
| RSU 04 | Sabattus Primary School |
| RSU 08/MSAD 08 | Vinalhaven School |
| RSU 19 | Hartland Consolidated School |
| RSU 19 | Somerset Valley Middle School |
| RSU 39 | Limestone Community School |
| RSU 40/MSAD 40 | Miller School |
| RSU 50 | Katahdin Middle/High School |
| RSU 74/MSAD 74 | Garret Schenck School |
| RSU 83/MSAD 13 | Moscow Elementary |
| RSU 84/MSAD 14 | East Grand School |
The Department announced a SIG competition earlier this year, which did not yield any grant awards. The State’s intent is to make these funds available for a second time and to potentially provide multiple grant awards to support Maine schools. Eligible schools will have an opportunity to receive additional support in developing a SIG application through collaboration with the State Support Network, which recently launched as part of a four-year technical assistance initiative funded by the U.S. Department of Education. The purpose of the State Support Network is, in part, to build capacity of districts to support school improvement, and in particular, those schools eligible to receive SIG funds. Staff from the Maine DOE will be conducting additional outreach on this opportunity to those school districts noted above.
Applications from eligible school districts will be accepted through 4 p.m. on December 14, 2016, where they must be delivered to the Maine DOE in Augusta. As part of the application process, eligible school districts who may be interested in the pursuit of a SIG are also asked to provide the Department with an “Intent to Apply” form (found within the application) by 4 p.m. on October 31, 2016. A copy of the Department’s LEA SIG Application can be obtained by submitting a request to Travis Doughty at travis.w.doughty@maine.gov.
For more information about the School Improvement Grant program, click here or call Maine DOE’s Travis Doughty at 624-6079.