This report summarizes the activity of the Targeted Extended/Enriched School Year and Year-Round School grant program for Fiscal Year 2025 that was appropriated by the General Assembly in Item 124 M (Chapter 725, 2025 Acts of Assembly).

For background, the 2012 JLARC report, Review of Year-Round Schools, highlighted key findings related to student participation in a year-round calendar, which included improved Standards of Learning (SOL) test scores for certain groups, such as economically disadvantaged students, black students, Hispanic students, and limited English proficient (LEP) students. As a result of this report, funding for Targeted Extended/Enriched School Year and Year-Round School programs began in 2014. Since the General Assembly began appropriating funds and authorizing grants for schools and divisions to extend the school year in FY2014, the Virginia Department of Education (the Department) has administered the voluntary grant application and award process. In the eleven years of dedicated appropriations for this grant, over 35 different school divisions across all eight Superintendents’ Regions have received awards to conduct planning and/or start-up activities. See Appendix B for a robust overview of Student Impact Data from each division as a result of funding from the 2024-2025 school year.

To encourage applications for the FY2025 grant program, the Department promoted the availability of a total of $7,763,312 in available funds included in the Appropriation Act Item 124.M. This included $7,150,000 in start-up funds and $613,312 in planning funds for each year of the budget biennium. The Department published a call for applications on June 27, 2024, in the Virginia Education Update Newsletter, which is sent to a listserv of school division personnel. Divisions had five weeks from advertising the program to submit the application.

During the first round of grant application, nine school divisions representing 66 schools submitted applications. After awarding funds to five of the nine divisions (55% of applicants), a total of $2,760,422.94 in start-up funds was allocated, as well as $150,000 in planning grant funds. This left a remaining balance of $4,389,577.06 of start-up funds and $463,312 of planning grant funds. With the available funding, a second round of applications were solicited, along with additional advertising of the grant and support to divisions in writing grant applications.

Charles City was the only division that has never received Extended School Year funding in the ten years of the grant. There were seven divisions that received funding this year that did not receive funding in FY24 (Bristol, Charles City, Danville, Petersburg, Pulaski, Staunton, Winchester). There were 11 division recipients (Bristol, Charles City, Danville, Montgomery, Petersburg, Pulaski, Richmond City, Roanoke City, Salem City, Staunton City, Winchester City) that received funding in FY25 for new programs that had never received Targeted Extended/Enriched School Year or Year-Round School funds.

A selection committee was convened to review the planning and start-up grant applications submitted by the respective deadlines. Committee members completed a rubric for each of the applications, evaluating them on the need for the program based on data for the program’s target population. Applications were also awarded points for the level of stakeholder and partner engagement; the attainability of program goals and metrics; the soundness of the timeline; and sustainability, prudence, and justification of the requested expenditures, as evidenced by the budget proposal. Table 1 on page 3 of the report shows a summary of the FY25 application and funding cycle.

An announcement of the availability of funds through a second round of grant applications accompanied an email invitation to the technical assistance webinar sent on November 22, 2024, to all school division superintendents, division contacts, and Extended School Year contacts listed in the Single Sign-on for Web Systems (SSWS) database. On December 3, 2024, Department staff delivered a 90-minute technical assistance webinar to educate division leaders about the purpose of the targeted Extended/Enriched School Year and Year-Round School funding. This presentation included a showcase from previous grant recipients who successfully implemented a year-round school calendar program. Over 180 participants registered for the webinar, representing every Superintendent’s Region. All registered webinar participants and division superintendents received an email on December 4, 2024, with electronic copies of the applications, a resource guide, and application rubrics. In addition, a dedicated webpage on the Department’s website offered grant information, the grant application, and instructions. Divisions had eight weeks from the time of advertising the program to apply.

Between the first and second application cycle, Department staff met with the four divisions that were not awarded funds during the first round to support their teams in developing viable program applications. This support was provided to enable them to present stronger applications to the review committee during the second round of applications. All four divisions that did not receive funding in the first round did receive funding in the second round. Additionally, the Department provided one-on-one support to several other school divisions with their application proposals. This coaching support, as well as the webinar, broadened the opportunity for divisions in the Commonwealth to participate in this grant and made the second round of the grant very competitive.

The second round yielded applications from 17 school divisions representing 67 schools. Thirteen school divisions (76%) and 41 schools (61%) were awarded funding during the second round. A total of $4,852,889.06 was allocated, including $1,170,241.60 for planning grants and $3,682,647.46 for start-up grants. All of the FY25 funds allocated by the General Assembly for the Targeted Extended/Enriched School Year and Year-Round School grant program were awarded to school divisions.

All the school divisions that were denied funding had the opportunity to meet with Department staff for feedback on their application, and they were encouraged to apply again for FY26 funding. Some divisions received less funding than requested in the initial application because (1) all requested expenses in the submitted budget workbook were not directly aligned to the proposed Extended/Enriched School Year or year-round program, or (2) funding priority was given to schools that demonstrated the most need.

Using the guidelines established by the Appropriation Act, the Department awarded a total of $1,320,241.60 to divisions pursuing planning grants and a total of $6,443,070.40 to divisions implementing and sustaining start-up grant applications in FY 25. The Office of School Quality awarded an additional $706,929.60 above the General Assembly guideline of $613,312 for planning grants Extended/Enriched School Year as more schools than in previous years showed an interest in exploring the possibility of implementing a year-round school calendar.

According to Item 124.M, school divisions have two years to expend all funds. Department staff continue to monitor and support divisions in expending funds and program performance throughout the two years of funding. A full report of the funds expended by division with carryover funds can be found in Appendix A.