Q. In an April 2020 Fiscal Report article entitled, “Flexibility for Perkins V Local Applications,” School Services of California Inc. reported that the U.S. Department of Education (ED) is allowing Perkins grantees to operate under their 2019–20 Perkins V Transition Plan for an additional three months—until September 30, 2020. Does this extension also apply to the deadline to expend Perkins grants by June 30, 2020?
A. The short answer is 2019–20 Perkins grants still must be expended by June 30, 2020.
Despite the three-month extension that allows grantees to operate under their 2019–20 Perkins V Transition Plan until September 30, 2020, grantees currently are still required by federal law to expend their 2019–20 federal Perkins dollars by June 30. However, the ED has requested a waiver of the current June 30 deadline, and there is a strong possibility that Congress will include this waiver recommendation in future legislation. If the waiver is approved, the new deadline for use of 2019–20 Perkins funds will depend on what date is included in the future legislation. We know that the timeline for use of these funds is an important consideration for Perkins grantees, and we will provide an update as soon as more information is available.