**DB CONSULTING GROUP INC**

**Moderator: Karen Dorsey**

**February 5, 2009**

**12:30 pm CT**

Operator: Good afternoon. My name is (Amber) and I will be your
conference operator today.

At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Safe Schools
Healthy Students Technical Assistance conference call.

All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise.
After the speakers' remarks, there will be a question and answer
session. If you would like to ask a question during this time, simply
press star then the number 1 on your telephone keypad. If you would like
to withdraw your question, press the pound the key. Thank you.

Ms. Dorsey, you may begin your conference.

Karen Dorsey: Thank you.

Good afternoon again, and welcome to the Fiscal Year 2009 Safe Schools
Healthy Students Application Technical Assistance call.

My name is Karen Dorsey and I'm with the Office of Safe and Drug-Free
Schools, and I served as the federal project officer for Safe Schools
Healthy Students.

Joining me today is Jane Hodgdon-Young, also a federal project officer
for Safe Schools Healthy Students at the Department of Education.

After some brief remarks, Jane and I will be taking your questions and
providing you with responses. But before we would begin with our
question and answer portion of the call, I'd like to review a few items
related to these calls.

First, the purpose of this call and our subsequent calls is to provide
technical assistance by responding to questions related to eligibility
requirements, the absolute priority, grant application submission
process, the selection criteria, and the application review process.

Technical assistance does not include providing recommendations or
feedback on your approach or proposed project design.

In addition to Technical Assistance calls, we conducted a Webinar on
January 22. The Webinar provided an overview of the Safe Schools Healthy
Students initiative, a review of the requirement and some helpful tips
for those not familiar with Safe Schools Healthy Student.

I encourage all applicants to look at the Webinar. You can access it
from the Safe Schools Healthy Students Web site on the same page that
you got the information for - calling in to this call.

Our goal is to have written transcript posted on the Safe Schools
Healthy Students Web site the Monday following the call.

In addition to written transcripts, there will be an audio file posted
on the Web site as well as (Encore) audio replay. The (Encore) audio
replay for today's conference call will be available two hours after the
completion of this call. The dial-in numbers are already posted on the
Web site, and you just need to answer the access codes for this
conference call.

These recordings will be available to you until March 4, the date the
competition closes.

We recommend that you have your 2009 Safe Schools Healthy Students
application available during this call for making notes as we frequently
will reference page numbers in the application.

During the question and answer session we ask that you state your name
and the city and state from which you're calling.

We anticipate being able to answer most of your questions, but there may
be some that require our discussion before we can provide a response. In
these cases, we'll place the call on mute briefly while we discuss
internally.

There may be some questions that we're not able to answer at all. In
these cases, we will consult with necessary federal staff and include
the response on the transcript that's posted on the Web site.

The Fiscal Year 2009 Safe Schools Healthy Students application is very
similar to the Fiscal Year 2008 application. As appropriate, information
has been updated and there has been minor editorial revision.

However, the absolute priority requirement selection criteria and
definitions have not changed. They are all the same.

If you're not familiar with the Safe Schools Healthy Students grant
application, I recommend that you review the application package
thoroughly.

Next I want to talk briefly about electronic submission.

Applicants may choose to submit applications electronically. Electronic
submission is not required, but if you decide to submit electronically,
your submission must be received before 4:30 exactly on March 4.

We strongly recommend that you do not wait until March 4 to submit your
applications since Grants.gov has a two-step validation process. And you
may not get a confirmation that your application has been fully accepted
until after the deadline if you wait until March 4 to submit.

If you choose to submit electronically, please review carefully the
instructions related to electronic submission which are on Pages 3
through 5 of the application package. We also have Frequently Asked
Question and answers that began on Page 49.

Next, I want to talk a little bit about the involvement of consultants
in the preparation of your Safe Schools Healthy Students application.
Applicants are reminded that the Education Department's General
Administrative Regulations, which we referred to as EDGAR, govern
discretionary grants awarded through the Department of Education.

Included in these regulations are information and regulations on
procurement standards. These standards allow for grantees to use their
own procurement procedures that reflect state law provided that those
procedures conform to applicable federal law and the standards included
in Section 8036 in EDGAR.

Therefore, according to Federal Standards and depending upon your
contract, grantees will most likely have to competitively bid for all
contracts even if it is not mandated by state or local requirements.

Therefore, we discourage applicants from listing particular service
providers or evaluators in their application because when they go out to
bid, these names, entity or individual may not be the same one to
receive the contract.

Instead, applicants are encouraged to state that they will plan to hire
an outside evaluator and to identify an individual's desired
qualifications and to define the scope of work (of proposed) project. It
is also important to note that EDGAR addresses the issue of full and
open competition.

So having said that, we're going to now stop and open the line for
questions.

(Amber)?

Operator: At this time, if you would like to ask a question, please
press star-1 on your telephone keypad. Again, that's star-1 for any
questions.

You have a question from the line of (George little) from (Byrdstown),
Tennessee.

(George little): Yes. Good afternoon.

You have, and on Page 87, on the detailed budget information, listed an
item that under Number 2, that there is travel for at least three but no
more than five individuals when annual, national Safe Schools Healthy
Students conference. That annual conference, how many days is it for
purposes of budgeting for the hotel and per diem?

Karen Dorsey: This is Karen. I would budget for three days.

(George little): Thank you, Karen.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of (Martha McBride)
from Hazlehurst, Georgia.

(Martha McBride): Good afternoon. We just wanted to know, was there any
rubric available that we could write our application again?

Karen Dorsey: This is Karen. None other than the point values that are
given next to the selection criteria.

(Martha McBride): Thank you.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of (Emily Forest),
Cleveland, Ohio.

(Emily Forest): Hi. I have a question about the logic model.

In the needs assessment section where we're talking about gaps and
needs, how detailed and how quantitative do you want those figures? Can
it be qualitative and subjective in surveys or do you want numbers and
statistics?

Jane Hodgdon-Young: This is Jane. And it's appropriate to include some
of both.

And for your needs assessment and the needs that are discussed in your
logic model, I think you want to include a lot of objective and
number-based documentation of what the needs are, but it is also
appropriate to include some more qualitative information as well.

(Emily): Okay. Thank you.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of (Jamie Benstrip),
Ludington, Michigan.

(Jamie Benstrip): Yeah. I'm wondering, we're looking a number of
different programs and some of them are model programs, and - but we're
also looking at some other programs, an example might be an after-school
program that is not a model program. And we're trying to figure out the
balance between implementing model programs into our proposals, but also
the ability to use other programs and find out what that is.

Karen Dorsey: This is Karen. You certainly can include other programs if
you look at the selection criteria under project design.

(Jamie Benstrip): Yup.

Karen Dorsey: It talks about activities, programs and services that are
evidenced base or reflect current research and effective practice.

So we don't have a prescribed sort of number of how many have to be
model and how many have - can be other, that's up to your project design
and your community to decide what are the best programs to propose based
on the information included in your community assessment.

(Jamie Benstrip): And then, if they were not a model program, then we
would just need to provide the information that shows the evidence
behind the program that it's effective, is that what you're saying?

Karen Dorsey: This is Karen. Yes, that's correct.

(Jamie Benstrip): Okay. If we have multiple questions, you want us to
continue or do you want us to press Send again for other questions?

Jane Hodgdon-Young: This is Jane. You can continue, but I wanted to add
on that on Page 21 of the application, there is a discussion about
choosing evidence-based programs and there are some questions for
applicants listed there that I think it will help you review and
consider the programs you want to include it.

(Jamie Benstrip): Okay, thank you. I've got a few more questions.

Last question is, do we need to include a detailed timeline in our
proposal?

Jane Hodgdon-Young: We don't require a detailed timeline. And Attachment
E is one of the things that you can include.

(Jamie Benstrip): Can the cost (for a grant writer) be written into the
grants?

Karen Dorsey: Budgets will be reviewed and cost that are not necessary
to implement the grants will be removed, and then general rule, the cost
for a grant write, those costs are incurred way before a grant is
actually awarded.

(Jamie Benstrip): Okay. So typically, that would not be included in in
those - an acceptable cost?

Karen Dorsey: Correct.

(Jamie Benstrip): When we're looking at law enforcement, we're looking
at a multiple district proposal and so, we're wondering, do we need to
have all the police departments in the area be a part of this or do we
just need, you know, one or two of them, how does that work?

Karen Dorsey: If you turn to Page 17 it talks about who should sign the
preliminary MOA. And it needs to be signed by each member LEA and then
corresponding Safe Schools Healthy Students' partners for that member
LEA.

So, unless you had a single law enforcement entity that has jurisdiction
and policing empowers over all of the LEAs that are included definitely,
you will need more than just that one entity.

(Jamie Benstrip): Okay. What is the maintenance effort that's referred
to on Page 8? We're trying to understand exactly what you're referring
to in that paragraph.

Karen Dorsey: This is Karen again. You should talk to your Title I
person. It's the same information that they submit on a regular basis to
department. For other federal grant programs, I'm not going to attempt
because I don't quite understand it. But your Title I person or somebody
in your business office should be able to give you an appropriate
statement.

(Jamie Benstrip): Yeah. One final question, thank you for your - thank
you for the information. It's very helpful.

Looking at logic model details, you know, since we're doing a
multi-district approach, do you want - are you looking for a logic model
that is more general that outlines the big gaps in all the districts, or
are you looking for a breakdown every specific element underneath - are
you looking for a breakdown of every specific district underneath that
element?

Karen Dorsey: It should be a single comprehensive plan. You're decision
on how you want to format it, is ultimately up to you, but I think the
keyword here is that peer reviewers will be looking at if it is a
comprehensive plan.

(Jamie Benstrip): Okay. All right, thank you very much.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of (Dianne Rinne) in
(Belleville), Illinois.

(Dianne Rinne): Hi. Thank you.

I don't - I'm in the car, so I don't have my instruction book with me,
but in the instructions, is there a reference, a site where you could
access by plan a certain - I think 2005 and I was not able to get to
those plans. I wondered if anybody else has that problem.

Karen Dorsey: This is Karen. Those applications were actually removed.
What you're referring to are applications that were in the FOIA Reading
room.

(Dianne Rinne): Uh-huh.

Karen Dorsey: We removed them because the 2005 application was so much
different from the 2007. It costs a great deal of confusion because\...

(Dianne Rinne): Okay.

Karen Dorsey: \...the selection criteria, eligibility, a lot of things
change. So that was an oversight on our part. We should have removed
that particular bit of information from this 2009 application package.

(Dianne Rinne): Okay. So there's nowhere if I get a sample on - in the
reading room - any reading room?

Karen Dorsey: There's not one on the reading room. You can always
request an application by the freedom of information if you send me an
email, I'll give you the Web site. Again, you know, it's competition
time for lots of programs here at the department.

(Dianne Rinne): Sure.

Karen Dorsey: And how quickly you could get something back I can\'t tell
you because I just don't have any idea, but I know there\'s been great
demand.

**Post Call Clarification:** Because the FY 2005 application differs a
great deal from the current application, those scored applications were
removed from the website and are no longer available.  It was an
oversight on our part that the FAQ was not removed from the FY 2009
SS/HS Application package.    You can make a request for a copy (or
copies) of funded FY 2008 or FY 2007 application under the Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA).  You can go to 
<http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/leg/foia/request_foia.html> and submit
your request online.  There has been an increased demand for copies of
funded application, so it may take up to 6 weeks to process the request.

(Dianne Rinne): Okay. And one more question. On the budget, are we
required to budget for four years to extend it out for the entire four
years?

Jane Hodgdon-Young: This is Jane. You're not required to request
money\...

(Dianne Rinne): Okay.

Jane Hodgdon-Young: \...for each of the four years, but your - the
funding amount limits would be set for each year. You would not be able
to ask for more for a shorter period of time, you would still (be under)
the same constraints of - that are listed on Page 20, which is for
example, an LEA with 5000 students. It would be \$750,000 per year. So
you would still be limited to \$750,000 per year for as many years as
you ask for. Four is the maximum, but you're not required to request
that.

(Dianne Rinne): Okay. Oh, I see. So for every year that you want to
request you have to do a budget.

Jane Hodgdon-Young: That's right. And\...

(Dianne Rinne): Okay.

Jane Hodgdon-Young: One other note is that if you requested for fewer
years, fewer than four in your application, you would not then later
have an opportunity to say, "Wait, I'd like my fourth."

(Dianne Rinne): Okay, that makes sense. Thank you very much.

Woman: Okay.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of (Lorie Brown) in
Asheville, North Carolina.

(Lorie Brown): Hi. I have a couple of questions. First of all, in the
budget part, when you're doing like other calls in looking at the sample
budget online, if you're going to include a set amount of time for kind
of a media blitz, a campaign like for (parents), is that an acceptable
cost to include kind of in the other section there?

Jane Hodgdon-Young: Yes.

(Lorie Brown): Okay.

Next question is, if you are contracting a service to our local
community provider, let's just say an example, Head Start or somebody,
and they're going to teach course or there something (unintelligible)
provider service, when you - if they have given you a budget that says,
okay, we're going to need \$25,000 to run this whole program, when you
do the final budget though, I'm going to have to take each part of their
\$25,000 request and break it down, am I correct in stating that as far
as how to figure out - how much you're asking for, for their people to
teach, how much for supplies, et cetera?

Jane Hodgdon-Young: Yes. Even the contracted portions, any contractor's
portion of a budget should have as much details as you can provide.

(Lorie Brown): Okay. And then in doing the logic model, I think I can
answer my own question because I think everything is just maybe 12-point
font, but is it possible to reduce to a 10-point font in that to kind of
fit everything in?

Karen Dorsey: This is Karen. I would remind you that there is not a page
limitation on the logic model.

(Lorie Brown): Okay.

Karen Dorsey: And that these will be reviewed by peer reviewers. So, you
know, I can understand the need to go to a smaller font so that it would
fit and look nicely on the page, but we just ask that you not go too
small that it then becomes difficult to read.

(Lorie Brown): Okay, thank you.

And then, when you are planning for people and think if you are a grant
recipient in the first year, if you say, you're hiring someone for say
10 months, in that first year of the grant, if say, money doesn't come
in until maybe the late fall maybe you don't have (it right) when school
starts in August.

And so, really you don't need them for a full 10 months, maybe you only
need them for nine once the money arrives. How do you kind of deal with
that in the budget, do you go ahead and assume, you've got the money
when school starts and you plan for that 10-month period or what?

Karen Dorsey: Yes. Each budget should be for a full 12-month period.

(Lorie Brown): Okay.

Karen Dorsey: If for some reason in year one you don't begin to expend
money as soon as possible, there is an opportunity at the end of four
years to go into what we call a No Cost Extension, and so you can then
have additional time to continue those programs that got started late.

(Lorie Brown): Okay. And then final question is, if you are indicating
local mental health providers, who will contract to provide mental
health services. I know you're talking earlier about don't name like say
your (exec) evaluator because it's a bidding process, but if you already
share relationship with some of these entities and you know you're going
to expand school-based services, is it okay through the narrative to
specifically list which mental health institutions are through your
whole mental health network?

Karen Dorsey: I think probably we're getting on that slippery slope
about sort of what that means and at this point, I think by not naming
them and putting in the detail if an award is made, we can then review
all of the facts sort of circumstances and come up with the
determination if you have to go out for a competitive bid or not.

(Lorie Brown): Okay. So best to maybe just say local entities and not
specifically name exactly who they are?

Karen Dorsey: Correct.

(Lorie Brown): Okay, great. Thank you.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of (Susan Wilber),
Silver City, New Mexico.

(Susan Wilber): Hi. My question has to do with treatment provider just
part of the grant. If we - if our partnership would like to, well, two
of the partners are treatment providers for mental health services and
substance abuse services.

So my question is, if the school is making referrals to those
organizations that are part of the partnership, some of those students
are referred under their current system those organizations could bill
Medicaid or other insurances, so I just - I need I guess some guidance
in terms of how it would work with the grant would - if those
(counselors) are partly on the grant, can they still bill and we could
used that as cash match towards the total cost of the project?

Karen Dorsey: Can you hold for one second?

(Susan Wilber): Sure.

Karen Dorsey: Thank you for holding.

(Susan Wilber): Sure.

Karen Dorsey: (Look), we were just discussing is that I think we have a
number of issues that you raised in your question and some of them that
are outside of our purview, particularly issues around Medicaid
regulation, your issues around ED contracting procedures.

So we're really not to able to answer that question, but if you send me
an email and detail out sort of what your questions are, I should be
able to provide you at least with some guidance about how to represent
it in your grant application. So you can send that to me directly at
[karen, K-A-R-E-N, .dorsey, D-O-R-S as in Sam, E-Y,
\@ed.gov](mailto:karen.dorsey@ed.gov).

(Susan Wilber): Okay. I sure will. Thanks, Karen.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of (Leslie Lewis
McGercie), in (unintelligible).

(Leslie Lewis McGercie): Hello. I had two questions. My first question
is approximately how many providers will be selected nationwide?

Karen Dorsey: This is Karen. We anticipate making 28 awards to eligible
entities. You use the word "providers", so I just wanted to be sure.

(Leslie Lewis McGercie): Okay. Thank you. My next question is, these
local community providers, do they have to have their 501(c)(3) status?

Jane Hodgdon-Young: No. The only eligible applicant for the Safe Schools
Healthy Students Initiative Grant Competition in Fiscal Year 2009 as
well as previous years is a local educational agency, 501(c)(3)
organizations are not eligible applicants. They are sometimes involved
in an application, but they are not the main applicants.

(Leslie Lewis McGercie): Okay, thank you.

Karen Dorsey: Can we have one more question?

Jane Hodgdon-Young: Sure.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of (Amy Branson),
Stuttgart, Arkansas.

(Amy Branson): Yes. My question is also about the public mental health
definition. I would like to have some elaboration on exactly what
administrative control or oversight means?

Karen Dorsey: We're talking about the entity that does not necessarily
provide mental heath services, but is the entity that provide oversight
to make sure that services are delivered appropriately that states and
federal laws are being - that they are in compliance with state and
federal laws and regulations. So we are looking at more so about - more
of a governing kind of body, oversight regulatory body not necessarily a
service provider.

(Amy Branson): Okay. We - may I give you just a little bit of background
on this question. We - the public authority for our area is very
under-funded and under-staffed at this time, and if they are not able to
assist us, what would we do next?

Karen Dorsey: Well when we - the intention is for them to provide
assistance and information to make sure that as you put together your
program and implement your program, again, that you're doing it
appropriately, that you're in compliance.

So we really sort of see this as the system piece of this initiative to
improving service delivery and accessibility of these kinds of services.
So I guess the short answer is, they don't necessarily need to commit
any specific monetary resource, but they should - they do need to commit
time to participate and with the grant and its development and
implementation.

(Amy Grant): Thank you.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of (Melissa Payne) in
Nashville, Tennessee.

(Melissa Payne): Hi. I wondered if we - I understand what the Local
Public Mental Health Authority is. My question is that once the project
has implemented, is it possible that the - would the schools directly
partner with the Community Mental Health Agency or with the Community
Mental Health Agency contract has to go through the Local Mental Health
Authority?

Jane Hodgdon-Young: It could be done in either way.

(Melissa Payne): (It could) - there\'s no restriction from that?

Jane Hodgdon-Young: No.

(Melissa Payne): Okay.

Jane Hodgdon-Young: The only restriction would be that the
applicants\...

(Melissa Payne): Uh-huh.

Jane Hodgdon-Young: \...the grantee would follow all of their
procurement procedures and that those would be in line with EDGAR 8036
as Karen mentioned in the beginning of the call.

(Melissa Payne): Right.

And I have few more questions. One, is there an expectation of how much
of the budget must go to each element, in other words, would it be 20%
to each of the five elements or could it be - or is it 50/50 between
like the Elements 1 to 3 versus the 4 and 5?

Jane Hodgdon-Young: No, we don't have any expectation. I think it all
goes back to the community assessment and where you're seeing the needs
and where you need to put the resources.

(Melissa Payne): So if you saw, for instance, that the community was, I
don't know, well established in maybe the early childhood piece then you
could put less in that area? Am I understanding that correctly?

Jane Hodgdon-Young: Yes.

(Melissa Payne): Okay. And regarding - there are some questions I have
about regarding the SF 424 supplemental form, you have some differing
language and I wanted to make sure, does that go right after the face
sheet or does that go in Attachment F?

Karen Dorsey: Are you submitting electronically?

(Melissa Payne): No, by paper.

Karen Dorsey: Okay. You can put it in - with - as an Attachment F.

(Melissa Payne): Okay. And do you want - and I don't if it\'s an
appropriate question, but do you want all the pages numbered or just the
narrative?

Karen Dorsey: I would recommend beginning with the Abstract, number 1to
the end of the document.

**Post Call Clarification**: We recommend numbering all pages
consecutively, using the style "1 of ..." beginning with the abstract as
page 1 and ending with the last page of the application, inclusive of
all of the appendixes and attachments.

(Melissa Payne): Okay. And do you want too the tables with contents one
for the narrative and one to proceed the abstract?

Karen Dorsey: That's a formatting question you need to decide.

(Melissa Payne): Okay. And do you want a summary - a brief summary of
the budget and a justification on the narrative as part of the 40-page
narrative and then, the more detailed budget with calculation and
justifications and attachment dates?

Karen Dorsey: In the narrative, you should respond to the budget
selection criteria, which is on Page 28.

(Melissa Payne): Uh-huh.

Karen Dorsey: And you as the applicant will decide sort of how much
detail, how much time you want to give it. But then again as an
attachment, you will include the more detailed itemized budgets.

(Melissa Payne): Okay, wonderful.

Well thank you so much. I appreciate you answering all my questions.

Operator: Your next question comes from (Angela Henry) in Iola, Kansas.

(Angela Henry): Hi. I was wanting to know a couple of questions.

First, regarding the letter of transmittal to the state single point of
contact, if our state did not participate, do we need to secure a letter
for our application?

Karen Dorsey: No.

(Angela Henry): Okay. So how would - what would be the best way to
respond that we did some - we say that we're not - we don't participate
in that or\...?

Karen Dorsey: Correct.

(Angela Henry): So would that part be included in the narrative or in
the attachments?

Karen Dorsey: Attachments.

(Angela Henry): And then for a personnel, if the LEA has already
identified, you know, personnel to take position such as the director or
other positions, can those resumes be included or did those have to be
contracted out or bid out to?

Karen Dorsey: Those resumes can be included.

(Angela Henry): And then did I understand you to say that with the logic
model and the graph, your font size can be smaller than 12 as long as it
is not too small to be read easily?

Karen Dorsey: Yeah, that's correct. You want to keep the document easy
to read for the reviewers.

(Angela Henry): Is it beneficial to a project to reflect (in kind) in
the budget? I see that it is not required.

Karen Dorsey: It is not required, but if you do include it, the
expectation is that you will honor it.

(Angela Henry): Okay. And then lastly, as an example, we have a program
that was grant funded and expired, some local dollars were raised to try
to continue to sustain it, is that program a possibility of being able
to continue it through this program, this project?

Karen Dorsey: Yes, provided that it is something that fits in with your
comprehensive plan which should be based on your community assessment.

(Angela Henry): Okay. Thank you very much.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of (Deborah White) in
Rockland, Massachusetts.

(Deborah White): Hi there.

I'm calling about the community assessment. I've actually (seven)
questions, but the first is about the community assessment.

I'm curious about whether the YRBS is assessing the significance of the
(unclear) or is it assessing the breadth and the depth of the community
assessment?

Karen Dorsey: First, this grant application, we don't require that you
use any kind of specific community assessment. A getting started
approach is discussed beginning on Page 29 of the application. And then
further back in the application, there are some resources that are
shared.

I believe it is in Appendix B that you can use. One of those resources
does give a link for places that an applicant can go to find assessment
tools.

(Deborah White): I think that part of my question is really about what
you're evaluating when you're reading that. Are you evaluating based on
how (meaty) is the community or are you evaluating based on how well
does the applicant understand the community.

Karen Dorsey: This is Karen.

If you read the selection criteria, it really talks about the extent to
which you describe what's going on in your community, the risk factors.
There is not a selection criteria that looks at - that puts a value on
need.

**Post Call Clarification**: Applications will be scored based on how
responsive it is to the selection critieria, which can be found on pages
26 - 28 of the application. Peer reviewers will be reviewing how well --
the extent to which -- the applicants addresses each specific selection
criteria, not the magnitude or severity of need.

(Deborah White): Okay. Thank you.

Karen Dorsey: Thank you.

(Deborah White): The second question that I have is about the - how the
abstract is read by the reader. So my question is, whether the reader
used it as an introductory to reading the rest of the narrative or is it
a stand-alone that doesn't get included when they read the narrative?

Woman: The abstract is included with the application that is shared with
peer reviewers.

(Deborah White): So we can consider it, in essence, an executive summary
of the document?

Woman: Yeah.

(Deborah White): Thank you.

Then my last question - I think, it's my last question, is about - we're
a consortium of nine communities that are applying nine school districts
that are applying and what I wondered about was the core management team
and we are planning to have - all of the roles identified on our core
management team, but it would be, for example, the police, the schools,
the (juvenile process).

But it would be unwieldy to have each of the communities in each of the
roles represented obviously on the core management team that would get
us around 45 people.

So I'm thinking that we could have representation of each of the
communities and a cross-section of the roles that I'm hoping that you
would think that was appropriate what I'm asking.

Karen Dorsey: This is Karen. I think you need to kind of develop your
approach and include appropriate rationale of justification as to why
you are defining your core management team in a particular way.

(Deborah White): Okay, thank you.

Operator: Your next question comes from (Rachel Candy) in Lorain, Ohio.

(Rachel Candy): Hi. You had discussed this a little bit earlier about
not naming entities who provide services because we do need to follow
competitive bid processes.

I just want to clarify, we are required to partner with organizations.
And so in looking at our community collaboration as a whole, did you say
earlier that if we have partners that we should not name them as
providing a specific service?

Jane Hodgdon-Young: That's going to vary a little bit.

(Rachel Candy): Okay.

Jane Hodgdon-Young: There are some - the required partners are the
required partners.

(Rachel Candy): Sure.

Jane Hodgdon-Young: So for example, you don't get to select who is your
law enforcement or your\...

(Rachel Candy): Right.

Jane Hodgdon-Young: \...(chief) justice.

(Rachel Candy): Right.

Jane Hodgdon-Young: So when those folks are also going to be providing
services, that is the only entity that could provide those services.

(Rachel Candy): Sure.

Jane Hodgdon-Young: But if you're talking about - it can get a little
confusing around the mental health partner because\...

(Rachel Candy): Sure.

Jane Hodgdon-Young: \...local public mental health authorities that's
the required partner, sometimes that entity does not provide services or
sometimes that's only one of several potential providers in the
community.

(Rachel Candy): Right.

Jane Hodgdon-Young: So you wanted to be very clear about the role that
the required partner will play as it is a required partner and then
slightly separate from that is the role of mental health service
provision in the comprehensive plan.

(Rachel Candy): So for example, if we have partners like our local urban
league or boys and girls club who would provide services under the
element who are not required partners, should we not name them, you
know\...

((Crosstalk))

Jane Hodgdon-Young: I think it depends on your community and if\...

(Rachel Candy): Okay.

Jane Hodgdon-Young: \...there are other potential providers out there
that it would not be preferred to name one organization if is in fact an
activity or a service that will need to be\...

(Rachel Candy): Okay.

Jane Hodgdon-Young: \...competitively bid.

(Rachel Candy): So then what - how would you then describe, you know, a
partner, including a lot of entities without saying other than the
required partners, what they would do for the project.

Jane Hodgdon-Young: Well the requirement for the preliminary memorandum
of agreement is that\...

(Rachel Candy): Right.

Jane Hodgdon-Young: \...you include the four required (partners)\...

(Rachel Candy): Sure, okay.

Jane Hodgdon-Young: \...who can include additional people or
organizations\...

(Rachel Candy): Okay.

Jane Hodgdon-Young: \...in that memorandum of agreement. They're not
required.

(Rachel Candy): Okay.

Jane Hodgdon-Young: And if you have a long-established relationship,
history of working with another organization, say the boys and girls
club, you might include information about that and how they support the
partnership or its work but not necessarily assigned duties\...

(Rachel Candy): Okay.

Jane Hodgdon-Young: \...that would later need to be bid.

(Rachel Candy): Okay.

Karen Dorsey: Yeah. And this is Karen.

And also remind you, looking at the selection criteria, particularly the
one under management, the - in which you're told to talk about, multiple
and diverse sectors of the community being involved in the design and
implementation and continue with improvement.

So you can include them in that instance when you're responding to that
selection criteria.

(Rachel Candy): Okay, great. Thanks for the clarifications.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of (Gina Khan) in
Wilbraham, Massachusetts.

(Gina Khan): Good afternoon. Hi.

I have a couple of questions also and some of them have already been
answered. Thank you.

I am interested in some clarification on Element 1 describing
conditions, behaviors and structures relative to the (state) school
environment.

Does structure literally mean characteristics of buildings or does it
mean more like infrastructure?

Karen Dorsey: It could mean both. I mean - and we're talking minor
renovations. So for example, if there are barriers to sight lines that
would improve safety at their particular area, say if there has been
lots of altercations or fights, then it would be helpful if a little
minor renovation could put that\[area\] into the sight line.

(Gina Khan): Right.

Karen Dorsey: That kind of thing.

(Gina Khan): So information from building safety audits for example
would be appropriate to include in the - within the community needs
assessment\...?

Karen Dorsey: Absolutely.

(Gina Khan): \...and that element. Okay.

My next question is related to the participation of private schools. We
do have one private school in our district. And I understand the
equitable participation in that they need to be included in the entire
project.

But in - say, in the example of the desire to have a substance abuse
counselor based - the public high school. And the private school in fact
is a middle and high school boarding school. Would that also mean -
would it mean that they would have access to that counselor or would it
mean to place into the project a second counselor for the location?

Karen Dorsey: I think two points here is; one, that the expectation is
that a private school would participate in the school comprehensive plan
that it's not sort of a cafeteria approach that they say we want a
counselor and nothing else.

(Gina Khan): Uh-huh.

Karen Dorsey: And so understanding that that is what we envision we
talked about private school participation.

And then how you actually respond to allocating resources is really up
to the applicant.

So you would need to sit and talk and discuss with the other planners
about the best way to meet the needs and include private schools in
implementing the project.

(Gina Khan): So the key would be assessment and intervention
availability versus necessarily if they were not really interested or
have the capacity in their view point for a full counselor, a person, as
long as we develop the program in a way that met their similar need, we
would be - that would be considered equitable participation?

Karen Dorsey: Yes. But I think that approach needs to be taken for the
entire project\...

(Gina Khan): Right.

Karen Dorsey: \...not around a particular activity or a personnel.

(Gina Khan): Right. Okay. So they're in for a penny and for a pound.

Okay. The other piece that I wondered about, in our needs assessment,
there are many - and we could go on and on. But is there like a
typical - do applicants tend to focus on like their Key 10 or I know
that's probably an impossible question to answer, but, you know, is
there any guidance that you might be able to offer relative to how many
of those gaps we might wish to address in the project?

Karen Dorsey: No, you hit the nail on the head when you said that it
might be an impossible question to answer. That's all really a decision
to be made by the applicant and its partners that are working together
to develop the comprehensive plan.

(Gina Khan): Great, okay. Thanks.

Just two procedural questions, in terms of competitive preference for
novice applicants, I interpret that as never having received a grant
from the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools versus never having
received the safe and healthy students. Am I correct?

Karen Dorsey: Now, the preference points are for \[people that\] local
educational agencies that have never had a safe school, healthy student
grant.

(Gina Khan): Okay. So let me just make sure. I think I have - I think -
and one last question, procedurally, post-mark by March 4, correct,
versus in your hand, if it is submitted by the mail?

Karen Dorsey: That's correct.

(Gina Khan): Okay. That's it. Thanks so much.

Operator: Your next question is a follow-up question from the line of
(Leslie Lewis McGercie) from (unintelligible).

Woman: Hello.

Operator: (Leslie), your line is open.

(Leslie Lewis McGercie): Oh, I'm sorry.

We have a couple of questions we want to ask.

I want to go on Page 71. With the least amount of students, is it
correct, am I looking at the right, the least amount of students who
qualify for this grant is 5,000?

Karen Dorsey: No, you're not correct. There's not a minimal enrollment
number placed on this.

(Leslie Lewis McGercie): Okay. We just want to ask you a question.

The next question I have is, primarily about the budget again, if we can
go back a little bit, if perhaps we did a budget and it was inclusive of
say two or three agencies and one decked out. This is just one scenario.

Could we redirect the funds in the same category? For instance, if we
had moneys in say supplies of services or administration, if the money
is - if we had - or if we found at the end of the first grant that we
had excessive money in supply, could we redistribute some of the money
for supply to say equipment?

I know we can't do it from supplies to administration to employee, but
could we do it in the service area?

Karen Dorsey: Okay. This is Karen. I think the important thing to
understand is, in the application you submit a budget, it will be
reviewed. If an award is made, you will be assigned a Federal Project
Officer, staff that will work with you to make sure that your budget and
costs are allocated appropriately, that all costs are the necessary,
allowable and reasonable.

(Leslie Lewis McGercie): Thank you. I love you.

((Crosstalk))

Woman: (Unintelligible).

Operator: Again, if you would like to ask a question, please press
star-1.

Your final question is a follow-up question from the line of (Angela
Henry) in Iola, Kansas.

(Angela Henry): I wanted to ask about the ED Form 524. The Section A is
definitely - budget will be required. But if you are not reflecting an
in kind, would you not have to submit Section B of that ED 524 form?

Karen Dorsey: Correct.

(Angela Henry): And then with the two detailed budgets for each year, as
long as you use the same category at that ED 524 form, you don't have a
specific document that we have to use for those detailed budgets. Is
that correct?

Karen Dorsey: That's correct.

(Angela Henry): Okay. And then along with the private school, if they
are interested in participating in the comprehensive plan, would it be
wise to have them sign on the preliminary MOA as a partner?

Karen Dorsey: Yeah.

(Angela Henry): Okay. And any other signers on an MOA or you're
restricted to just like the private school, the LEA, and then the other
required partners?

Jane Hodgdon-Young: No, you're not required to limit to those numbers.
Those are the ones that must be on there. But you can include additional
partners if you would like to.

(Angela Henry): And if the private school declines to participate, is
that something you, again, address in your narrative that they have been
approached and have determined this is not something they do want to
participate in?

Karen Dorsey: This is Karen. You could include that as an attachment
about private school, whether they are - have declined in any other
documentation. For example, if you would like to send a copy of the
letter that you sent out to the private school.

(Angela Henry): Okay. So it would\...

Karen Dorsey: You put that in Attachment F.

(Angela Henry): The Attachment F. So it would necessarily need a letter
of their declination as a response?

Karen Dorsey: I'm sorry. Can you say that again?

(Angela Henry): You - if we - if that were to be the case, as long as we
had an Attachment F, the letter where we had approached them, we
wouldn't necessarily need a letter of declination from them in response.
True? That they were\...

Karen Dorsey: Not necessary.

((Crosstalk))

Karen Dorsey: Not in the application.

(Angela Henry): Not in the application, but would you need it as an
attachment?

Karen Dorsey: No.

(Angela Henry): Okay. And then I just want to make sure I understood you
correctly with the letter of transmittal. You said we do not need to
secure a letter from our state level that we don't participate any
attachment, would you - would we just type a letter saying that we don't
participate, you know, so that you know that we've at least addressed
this one way or the other?

Karen Dorsey: Yes. This is Karen. That's correct.

(Angela Henry): Okay. So just we - maybe our superintendent would write
the letter?

Karen Dorsey: Yes.

(Angela Henry): Okay. And that would be sufficient?

Karen Dorsey: Yes.

(Angela Henry): Okay. All right, thank you.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of (Jack Martin) in
Westland, Michigan.

(Jack Martin): Yes. We have a couple of questions for you.

Karen Dorsey: Go ahead.

(Jack Martin): First of all, on the outcome measure, you mention that
the YRBS survey is to be used. Is that the only survey that should be
used with - in regards to the specific standards that we are to measure
or can we use a different tool that's already in place?

Karen Dorsey: This is Karen. We use that as an example. It is not
required that you use YRBS. You can use any instrument or tool that you
desire.

Woman: Okay, thank you.

(Jack Martin): But it has to address the six-point areas, right?

Karen Dorsey: Yes, you have to report on the GPRA measured as written in
the applications.

(Jack Martin): All right. Then I have a formatting question. There are
some mention in the document about not using WordPerfect if you're going
to do a Grants.gov submission. Could you explain why you would not use
WordPerfect?

Karen Dorsey: That's a technical issue that deals with Grants.gov, and
you could call the help line. But the Department of Education, we don't
own Grants.gov so to speak.

((Crosstalk))

(Jack Martin): Right. But there are something in the application about
not using WordPerfect because it documents in a wrong way.

Karen Dorsey: Again, it's a technical aspect of the system that I can't
respond to.

(Jack Martin): All right. So we can do WordPerfect and then submit -
attach those.

Jane Hodgdon-Young: If you\...

((Crosstalk))

(Jack Martin): \...over the budget or whatever else, attach it.

Jane Hodgdon-Young: If you intend to submit by Grants.gov, you should
follow the specific instructions about how to submit under Grants.gov.
And if you have questions about those instructions, you should call
Grants.gov's help line directly.

(Jack Martin): Okay.

Jane Hodgdon-Young: If you intend to submit a paper copy through the
mail or another carrier, then it does not matter what kind of software
you use because we'll just have a paper copy.

(Jack Martin): Okay, thank you.

Jane Hodgdon-Young: Uh-huh.

Woman: There's a lot of\...

((Crosstalk))

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of (Jennifer Norfolk)
from Denver, Colorado.

(Jennifer Norfolk): I have a question about the (GetPro) reporting. We
understand that (GetPro) needs to be reported annually, however, when
we're working on our goals and objectives, it seems that in some areas
it doesn't make sense to have measurable outcomes annually. That is, the
appropriate outcome might reflect a longer implementation of the
intervention.

So, the cumulative effect would be examined at the end of the grant. So
is it acceptable that a set of outcomes that would be measured annually
against baseline data but several that would be measured once over the
course of the grant at the end of the project period?

Jane Hodgdon-Young: Either it's fine and both are fine. As far as your
outcomes, you can have annual targets that you report on annually or you
can have longer term targets that you would still report on annually.

So regardless of whether you're saying that you want to have a 5%
annuals or a 5% change over the entire period of the grant, you would
still need to report each year on whatever progress is being made.

(Jennifer Norfolk): Okay, thanks.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of (Lorie Brown) in
Asheville, North Carolina.

(Lorie Brown): First of all, related to the (unintelligible) when you
are looking at personnel, if you are dealing with a situation where -
you're assuming that any (unintelligible) would have benefits and you're
going to factor that into the budgets.

But your county has a policy and that county - I mean the greater county
not the school system, that anyone funded through a grant cannot have
benefit. Do you break - would you break that down in the personnel
section of the budget showing these (full-time) people will have
benefits and these (full-time) people will not have benefits?

Jane Hodgdon-Young: Yeah. You would have the personnel where you would
show what their salary is and then in the next section, labeled Fringe,
you would provide detail showing that certain employees have this rate
of fringe and other employees do not have fringe.

(Lorie Brown): Okay. And then going to the narrative itself in Section
5, the management section, Section 5 Question A, I want you to describe
a management plan, et cetera.

In that section of the grant, is that where you're really looking kind
of for a - well clearly you're outlining everybody's duties. But also is
that the section where you would kind of have a tentative timeline of
implementation over a four-year process, is that kind what you're
looking for in that section?

Karen Dorsey: And one of - the last part talks about milestones for
accomplishing project tasks\...

(Lorie Brown): Uh-huh.

Karen Dorsey: \...so it is really up to the applicant to decide on what
those milestones and how they are going to articulate them in response
to the selection criteria.

(Lorie Brown): Okay. And in that same Section 5 Question E, and as for
the data systems that will be used to support decision-making processes
including the use of technology, so in that section, are you looking for
a description of specific tools that will use - be used in the
evaluation process including surveys or computerized software to
calculate data or the data outcomes, just not exactly sure exactly what
you mean there but to the plan to develop data systems.

Karen Dorsey: And what we're talking, you may not necessarily sort of
(pull out), develop a data system, but really to focus on using data to
support decision-making process and managing the grant as well as
outcomes and including things in your evaluation.

(Lorie Brown): Okay. I think that's it. Thank you.

Operator: Your next question comes from (Margaret Mitchell) in (Field
County, South Carolina.

(Margaret Mitchell): Good afternoon.

On the GPRA measures, there's at least one that specifically says that
has to be measured prior the survey, the one about (unintelligible)
school property in the past 12 months prior to the survey. I think it's
implied that several of the other measures need to be measured by
survey.

Is there an expectation that that'd be all students surveyed or that we
could use some sort of random survey process or a compliance sample?

Karen Dorsey: And in collecting not just the GPRA data but any
evaluation data, it really depends on your project design. Clearly if
you are doing some universal prevention around alcohol and you're doing
it only in the middle school, for the purposes of reporting on GPRA, I
would think that you would want to collect the GPRA data just for the
middle school since you're not providing a similar intervention at the
high blood level.

But it's really up to the applicant to decide on the valuation plan and
instrument and population to be surveyed.

(Margaret Mitchell): I guess that makes load of sense but I - and I am
working, you know, the GPRA performance measures are part of the plan. I
mean, that there the - there's outcomes that we want to achieve, a
reduction in the number of physical fights on school property.

But when you're looking for that information to meet GPRA requirements,
or will you only be looking at if at the age group that is, you know,
getting an intervention that is designed to reduce the physical fights
or you're looking at it district-wide?

Karen Dorsey: We're looking at it however the grantee provides it. In
some cases a grantee may decide and may have several interventions going
on district-wide and so they would survey district-wide.

In some instances, they may only do a universal program related to
alcohol, tobacco and other drug use at the middle school and so they're
planning on only to submitting middle school's data.

So it really depends on the project design of each applicant.

(Margaret Mitchell): Thank you.

Operator: Your final question is a followup from (Gina Khan) in
Wilbraham, Massachusetts.

(Gina Khan): Hi again.

A question relative to the users (to have) your survey. We typically
administer this every two years and our 2007 survey data has been
integrated in our community assessment.

We would be typically on a spring administration schedule and we were a
little confused about whether we should move ahead with the
administration and let that serve as baseline data in the event that we
are fortune enough to receive funding, you know, but we kind of also
feel like we have an absence of this year's YRBS data in terms of our
needs assessment.

Is there - would there be, in your mind, a conflict in terms of
utilizing through 2007 along with more local and relevant current data
and continuing with the typical schedule of survey administration then
being ready to have the baseline data in the event that the project is
implemented.

Jane Hodgdon-Young: Well this is Jane. And you can only submit in the
application the data that you have.

(Gina Khan): Uh-huh.

Jane Hodgdon-Young: So, from what you've said you have 2007 YRBS data
and you have some additional data from other sources. So\...

(Gina Khan): Right.

Jane Hodgdon-Young: \...that is what you would need to use for your
application.

As far as deciding to use the YRBS this spring, that's a decision that
is up to the school district.

(Gina Khan): As we administer in the spring, which we typically would
2009, would that provide baseline in terms of implementation?

Jane Hodgdon-Young: If the applications were funded\...

(Gina Khan): Yes.

Jane Hodgdon-Young: \...and the 2009 survey results included all of the
necessary information\...

(Gina Khan): Correct.

Jane Hodgdon-Young: \...for GPRA and other program-specific measures,
then yes, that could be used as baseline.

(Gina Khan): Okay. Thank you.

Operator: At this time, there are no further questions.

Karen Dorsey: We will hold for a few minutes and if we don't have any
other questions, we will end.

Operator: Again, if you would like to ask a question, please press
star-1.

We have a question from the line of (Deborah White) in Rockland,
Massachusetts.

(Deborah White): Yes, we have one additional question. We have nine
different counts represented in our collaborative that are working
together on our grants. And eight of them are represented in one county
and served by one group of - variety of group of both juvenile justice
organizations and mental health organizations and one of our district
was in another county that's served by another set of organizations.

Is it necessary to - our question is, is it necessary to have
representation as completely by that district by the county that has -
that represents only one of our nine districts on all of our committees?

Jane Hodgdon-Young: This is Jane. And it is necessary to have
representation of all of the required partners for all of the included
local educational agencies on the preliminary memorandum of agreement.

Woman: (That's right).

Jane Hodgdon-Young: (But) as we responded to an earlier question, when
you're looking at the management structure of your - of the projects,
that would be up to you to decide what the best management structure
would look like and to be able to provide sufficient information in the
application that would (support) why this is a good management
structure.

(Deborah White): Thank you very much.

Operator: At this time, there are no further questions.

Jane Hodgdon-Young: We'll hold for a moment.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of (Shantal Philips) in
Port Charlotte, Florida.

(Shantal Philips): Yes, thank you.

I'm wondering what the required federal and direct cost is for this
grant.

Karen Dorsey: Each LEA should have a negotiated indirect cost rate.

(Shantal Philips): Okay. So it's no different than what has been
negotiated?

Karen Dorsey: Correct.

(Shantal Philips): Thank you.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of (Shelly Smithly) in
(unintelligible), Washington.

(Shelly Smithly): Hi, this is (Shelly).

There's a line item in the required budget pieces that include the
(slice) - to director meetings. Is that annually or just two over the
course of the four-year grant period?

Jane Hodgdon-Young: Annually.

(Shelly Smithly): Two annually. Okay, thank you.

Oh, and how many days should we expect?

Jane Hodgdon-Young: For those, it says it should be two 3-day meetings
per year.

(Shelly Smithly): Two 3-day meetings and it's per year. Okay thank you.

Operator: Your next question is a followup from the line of (Angela
Henry) in Iola, Kansas.

(Angela Henry): I just wanted to verify. The YRBS that you're talking
about is the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, is that correct?

Karen Dorsey: Yes.

(Angela Henry): Okay. I just - I wanted to make for sure.

And then the two 3-day meetings you just talked about for the director,
is that in addition to the national required conference?

Karen Dorsey: Yes, it is.

(Angela Henry): Okay thank you.

Jane Hodgdon-Young: One point of clarification for all participants,
we've had a lot of questions about the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, I
just want to make sure that everyone is clear that applicants or
grantees are not required to use that specific instrument. There are
several that are out there.

YRBS is a common one and that is why we use it as an example in the
application.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of (Lorie Brown) in
Asheville, North Carolina.

Woman: Hello.

(Lorie Brown): Hello. Can you hear me?

Woman: Yes.

(Lorie Brown): I'm sorry. I guess, I had the speaker function.

One follow-up question on the mental health component. If your local
mental health entities, primarily an oversight office and they're not
actually providing services, is it necessary within the narrative to
explain that, you know, you're partnering with them but the
(unintelligible) they may not be providing direct services other
agents - local agencies' will.

I mean do you need to go into a lot of explanation about what the
partnership looks like?

Jane Hodgdon-Young: I think the preliminary memorandum of agreement
would provide an opportunity for you to discuss what the partnership
would be with the required partners.

(Lorie Brown): Okay.

Operator: Again, to ask a question, press star-1.

And there are no further questions at this time.

Jane Hodgdon-Young: Okay. Well with that, we'd like to conclude today's
technical assistance call for fiscal year 2009, Safe Schools Healthy
Students Initiative Grant Application Package.

We hope you found this call to be helpful. The next call is scheduled
for February 19 at 1:30 pm, Eastern. Information about how to access the
call is on the Safe Schools Healthy Students' Web page, and that's also
where we will post a transcript of today's call.

And you'll - within 2 hours, you'll be able to listen to a recording of
this call. Thank you very much and good luck.

Operator: This concludes today's conference call. You may now
disconnect.

END