Wednesday, April 29, 2020
Your ISD News & Updates
Governor Announces Child Care Relief Fund
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 29, 2020 
Contact:   press@michigan.gov   



Governor Whitmer Takes Significant Step to Make Child Care Affordable and Accessible for Families 

LANSING – Governor Gretchen Whitmer today announced a $130 million investment to make child care more affordable and accessible for Michigan families during the COVID-19 pandemic. 
  
“Child care providers have been critical partners in helping our state respond to COVID-19, and we are extremely grateful for their service,” Governor Whitmer said. “Every child care provider and early educator is important in giving parents some peace of mind while they are delivering essential services to our state at this challenging time.” 
 
Michigan has created the “Child Care Relief Fund” to provide direct, non-competitive grants to child care providers. These funds help ensure:  
  • Child care providers currently serving essential workers remain open, and costs associated with providing care during the COVID-19 pandemic are not passed on to essential workers. 
  • Child care providers can stay afloat during the “Stay Home, Stay Safe” state of emergency. 
  • Child care is more affordable to families now, and as our economy begins to reopen. 
  • Child care providers across the state have the resources needed to reopen for Michigan’s workforce when the recovery process of the current COVID-19 pandemic begins and more families are in need of child care options. 
  
Michigan’s Child Care Relief Fund consists of $100 million in federal CARES Act funding and $30 million from the state’s child care fund, both dedicated to be used only for child care services. 
  
Licensed child care centers, family group homes, tribal child care providers, provisional disaster relief child care centers, and subsidized license exempt providers are all eligible for Michigan’s Child Care Relief Fund grants.  
  
Grant recipients must commit to reducing their weekly rates for families by at least 10 percent, and provide care for children of essential workers regardless of where their parents or caregivers work. Grant recipients must also agree not to charge a fee to hold a child’s spot in a program while receiving grant funds. 
  
“These funds will help sustain high quality child care that is vital for Michigan’s children and families,” said State Superintendent Dr. Michael Rice. “Whether it’s to help child care providers cover fixed costs like their mortgage, utilities, insurance, or payroll, we wanted the funds to be as flexible as possible to meet their specific needs.” 
  
The Child Care Relief Fund will be administered by the Michigan Department of Education’s Office of Child Development and Care – with support from the governor’s office and the Michigan Department of Labor and Regulatory Affairs. Beginning April 29, there will be a simple online application for child care providers to use at   www.michigan.gov/childcare .  
  
Grants start at $1,500 for home-based providers and $3,000 for child care centers. Additional funds will be awarded based on the size of the provider, whether they are open and serving essential workers, and their quality rating.  
  
In addition to this grant program, Michigan has also made important changes to the Child Development and Care program, commonly called the child care subsidy. 
  
These changes ensure families can access the care they need and providers have some financial certainty. This includes continuing to review and approve applications; increasing the hours school age children can be in care; extending the deadline for re-determinations so families can continue to receive the subsidy during the crisis; and continuing to make subsidy payments based on the number of children enrolled in a program, not the number attending.  
  
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Draft Resolution Honoring Essential Workers
Saginaw ISD Superintendent Dr. Kathy Stewart announces that at the next monthly Saginaw ISD Board of Education meeting, SISD board members are proposing to approve a formal resolution honoring essential workers. 

If your organization wishes to take similar action here is a draft to copy for your use.
 
"Together we are stronger; together we can get through this."
MASA Announces New Executive Director
The Michigan Association of Superintendents & Administrators is pleased to announce the selection of Dr. Tina Kerr as its new Executive Director effective July 1, 2020. Dr. Kerr brings more than 30 years of experience to the role and a familiarity with MASA, having served as its Deputy Executive Director since 2015 overseeing operations and various programs throughout Michigan. She is a dedicated advocate for public school students and has actively served alongside instructional leaders at the local, state and national levels on numerous educational boards and committees. Dr. Kerr holds a Doctorate Degree in Educational Leadership from Michigan State University and a Master of Arts Degree in Educational Leadership from Western Michigan University.

2020 REMC Personal Purchase Program
Now through September 30, 2020 staff, students, and families can receive Michigan educational prices!!

More details here: Personal Purchase Program Flyer

Several of the awarded vendors on the 2020 REMC Device Purchasing Bid are offering discounts to staff, students, and families on computers and accessories purchased for PERSONAL use.

*Please note potential delivery delays due to COVID-19
MISEN Form 479 Request
Please see the message below that was sent to your METL Representatives,
The State Education Network (SEN) is pleased to provide continued service for Michigan ISDs and local districts during this unprecedented time in history. The SEN backbone and IA services have proved to be a valued resource for students and educators across Michigan.

In order to comply with strict E-Rate regulations set by the FCC, please provide the following FCC form for your ISD and all E-Rate Consortium members:
 
Please forward the forms as soon as possible to Christy Bearden, SEN E-Rate Specialist, at cbearden@geneseeisd.org.
FCC Approves Sharing of Self-provisioned Networks when they "Pay their Fair Share"
F rom State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA):
The FCC has released a decision that allows schools and libraries to self-provision their own fiber networks while sharing a portion of the network with non-eligible parties. In the Park Hill decision , the FCC Bureau overturned USAC's decision to deny funding to the Park Hill School District because it shared additional fiber strands with the city of Kansas City. The FCC found USAC's denial to be incorrect, and relied in part on the precedent established in the Healthcare Connect Fund Order from 2012. 

Y  ou can read the original order here:

Summary
Having concluded that the agreement between Park Hill and Kansas City is the kind of sharing arrangement permitted under our rules, we next clarify that our rules do not require E-Rate applicants to exclusively own and use the entire self-provisioned network . In the 2014 Second E-Rate Order, the Commission sought to maximize schools' and libraries' options for purchasing affordable high-speed broadband connectivity. To achieve that goal, the Commission allowed E-Rate eligible entities to construct their own network or portions of their own network when it is the most cost-effective solution. In making self-provisioned networks eligible for E-Rate support, the Commission pointed to the success of Rural Health Care Pilot program participants that elected to use support for self-construction for parts of their networks, and confirmed that it would "follow the model the Commission adopted in the [2012] Healthcare Connect Order here, to ensure that the Fund supports self-construction only when it is the most cost-effective option ."Under the Healthcare Connect program, participants are not required to exclusively own and operate self-constructed networks when they share their facilities with ineligible, for-profit entities that pay their fair share of network costs. This same model applies in the E-Rate context.