This Executive Summary encompasses the activity of the Targeted Extended/Enriched School Year and Year-Round School grant program for fiscal year 2024. In the 2012 JLARC report Review of Year-Round Schools, key findings related to student participation in a year-round calendar highlighted improved Standards of Learning (SOL) test scores for certain group student groups, including economically disadvantaged students, black students, Hispanic students, and limited English proficient (LEP) students. Following this report, funding for Targeted Extended/Enriched School Year and Year-Round School programs began. Since the General Assembly began appropriating and authorizing grants for divisions to extend the school year in FY2014, the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) has administered the voluntary competitive grant application and award process. In the ten years of dedicated appropriations for this grant, 35 school divisions across all eight Superintendent Regions have received awards to conduct planning and/or start-up activities. Montgomery County Public Schools was a new division to receive a Targeted Extended/Enriched School Year and Year-Round School grant award this year.

To encourage applications for the FY2024 grant program, the VDOE promoted the availability of $7,150,000 in start-up funds and $613,312 in planning funds included in the 2024 Appropriation Act Item 136M for a total of $7,763,312 in available funds. Divisions received notification of the availability of funds through the 114-23 Superintendent’s Memo, which was distributed to contacts in all school divisions throughout the Commonwealth. Divisions had approximately six-weeks from advertising the program to submit the application.

During the review process, a selection committee convened to review each of the four planning grant applications and nine start-up grant applications from school divisions that were submitted by the deadline. Committee members completed a rubric for each of the applications which included evaluating applications on needs assessment of target population, evidence of stakeholder and partner engagement, program goals and metrics, timeline, sustainability, and budget. All applications that were submitted by the deadline received FY2024 grant funds. Some divisions received less than requested in the initial application because they had received grant funds for multiple years. As the grant shifts to the Office of School Quality, there are program improvements that will begin in the 2024-2025 school year regarding the selection and allocation of funds based on the number of years a division has participated in the program.

Using the guidelines established by the 2024 Appropriation Act Item 136M, the VDOE awarded start-up grants totaling $7,503,423 to eight school divisions, being: Carroll County Public Schools, Chesterfield County Public Schools, Hampton City Public Schools, Hopewell Public Schools, Newport News Public Schools, Roanoke City Public Schools, Salem City Public Schools, and Waynesboro Public Schools. Franklin City Public Schools, Montgomery, Richmond Public Schools, and Waynesboro City applied for and received planning grant funds totaling $250,000.

Table 1 includes a summary of the impact each divisions’ program had on student outcomes. Appendix A includes a detailed report of student impact data.