This Executive Summary includes the activity of the Targeted Extended School Year Payments grant program for fiscal year 2018. Since the General Assembly began appropriating and authorizing grants to extend the school year in FY2014, the Virginia Department of Education has administered the voluntary grant application and award process. In the six years of dedicated appropriations for this grant, 22 different school divisions have received awards to conduct planning and/or start-up activities.

To encourage applications for the FY2018 grant program, the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) promoted the availability of $7,150,000 in start-up funds and $613,312 in planning funds included in the FY2018 Appropriation Act. The FY2018 grant cycle produced the largest number of grant-funded start-up and planning awards. In addition to the 16 school divisions awarded either a start-up or planning award, one division received an innovation grant award.

Using the guidelines established by the 2017 Appropriation Act Item 135 N (Appendix A), the VDOE awarded start-up grants totaling $6,973,865.88 to 77 schools in 11 school divisions—Bristol, Carroll, Charlottesville, Henrico, Loudoun, Lynchburg, Manassas Park, Newport News, Radford, Roanoke City, and Rockingham. These schools implemented programs which served 15,308 students in some capacity. Five school divisions applied for and received $447,070.98 in planning grant funds—Chesterfield, Hampton, Henrico, Hopewell, and Petersburg. One division, Richmond City, received an innovation grant totaling $292,375.14.