Who can apply?
Please look over the eligibility requirements to ensure you meet the requirements. In order to receive a WRCCS Design Stipend a school must meet the following;
- Charter school design team is in their pre-planning period, planning to open their school in the fall of 2024 or later
- The charter school has not received the DPI’s Wisconsin Charter Schools Program Grant funding or Federal Charter Schools Program Grant funding
- The charter school has not previously received a WRCCS Design Stipend
- A charter school governance board* (not authorizer) who has the following completed:
- Already had an official formation meeting with the governance board
- Has an elected governance board president/chair
- Established as a governance board entity (dedicated 102c Non-stock/Non-profit in Wisconsin and typically also 501c3 federally Tax exempt)
- Has a bank account in the name of the governance board or school (or an MOU with a ddistrict fiscal agent)
*Note: If your governance board is not ready with the required documentation yet, WRCCS consultants can help you get filed with the state as an entity, This does not guarantee admission into stipend this round
How much money could you get?
Our vision is to provide a comprehensive stipend of $10,000 to governance boards who are designing a charter school.
*You can receive the WRCCS Design Stipend only once.*
Note - We have changed our structure from previous stipend rounds.
What can you do with the funds?
A thorough budget must be completed as part of your application for consideration. Your budget should be based on your described needs and deliverables in the Headrush application. Task cards should include the task, deliverable, amount, and WRCCS competency.
You can use the funds to support your team in engaging in professional development and design work for your charter school. We want you to rely on existing WRCCS resources to complete this project. You can review the WRCCS Design Team website to learn more about the design process.
You can pay your staff release time, pay for subs, travel to visit schools or hire consultants to support your learning. WRCCS has many resources available at no cost to you. We highly recommend you explore our list of WRCCS partners and the support you could get from your local CESA teams.
You cannot request funds to purchase items or pay people to do the jobs they are paid to do already. You will not be allowed to use these funds to write the Wisconsin Charter Schools Program grant application.
When can you spend the money?
Upon acceptance, once WRCCS has your financial and contractual paperwork on file, you will receive the first half of the stipend. You can begin spending at that time. You will get the second half once your contractual deliverables are completed, which must be no later than July 5, 2024, which you can then use as internal reimbursements.
How to apply?
Your team should apply using the following process:
- Complete this VERY brief form expressing your interest in applying for the stipend. We will create accounts for interested applicants, so if you are thinking about applying, you must complete the form by March 15, 2024 in order to give us enough time to create an account for you. Then, the complete application will be due March 30, 2024.
- Log into Headrush, and you will see TWO Action Plans: "Designing a Charter School Action Plan 2024" and the "School Name Design Stipend Application."
- Review the "Designing a Charter School Action Plan" by going through each task card. Use these to inform your application deliverables. You may copy a task card and modify it into your deliverables in your Stipend Application.
- Enter your application materials into your Stipend Application. You will enter responses into BOTH the Headrush Overview and Task Board Action Plan tabs (the WRCCS staff can assist you in this process! Reach out anytime! Your plan should be extermely detailed.)
- Submit your Stipend Application action plan by setting it to: "Ready for Review" before March 30, 2024!
Click here for a Google doc with these same instructions on it.
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