Thanks to funding made available through the Race to Top Early Learning Challenge Grant, we were able to make $700,000 in grant funding available for critical facility improvements across our state. An additional $100,000 was added to the available pool of funding by LISC for school age programs. Grant applications were accepted from January, 12, 2015 – March 6, 2015.
The following slideshow summarizes these first grant waves:
With nearly $2.9 million in requests for the available $800,000, the RICCELFF Governance Committee was forced to make some very difficult decisions. We understand the tremendous need that exists across our state for resources targeted to making improvements in facilities that are plagued with many issues. We will continue to advocate for the allocation of resources to improve conditions in facilities, better ensuring the health and safety of our children and that allow for the creation of learning environments that support high quality programming. We remain hopeful that additional Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge resources will be allocated for facility grants, and we will notify you right away if additional funding is secured.