The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) is administering the FY27 Special Support Earmarks, Fund Code 1192. This is an administrative vehicle for state legislative educational-improvement earmarks assigned to Massachusetts public school districts and other entities named in the FY27 state budget. It is not an open competitive grant for organizations that are not named recipients.
Funding and deadline
DESE states that approximately $1,910,566 is available under state-funded line item 7010-1192, subject to availability. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis but must be submitted no later than Friday, October 23, 2026. DESE does not publish a submission cutoff time or timezone on the governing page.
Eligibility and recipient-specific uses
Eligibility is limited to public school districts and other entities specifically listed in the FY27 state budget. Funds must be used for the recipient-specific educational-improvement purpose established by the enacted line-item language. Several enacted earmarks are directly relevant to healthcare and school health, including $125,000 to Stonehill College for development of a nursing simulation lab, $125,000 to Lawrence High School for a medical-professions career pathway partnership with Merrimack Health, $25,000 to Hanover Public Schools for purposes including implementation of a cardiac screening program, $150,000 to Braintree Public Schools for mental health services, $500,000 to the BIRCH Center to continue the school-based behavioral health technical assistance center, and $50,000 for hands-on CPR training in public schools statewide. Other earmarks include $50,000 for Collaborative for Educational Services for a trauma-informed Hampshire County initiative and $85,000 for Arlington Youth Counseling Center for youth mental-health support. These examples do not create a general menu of allowable costs for other recipients; each named recipient is restricted to its own enacted purpose.
The project period is July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027. Earmark funds cannot be drawn before DESE receives a substantially approvable application. The governing RFP does not state a mandatory non-Federal match or cost share. It also does not establish a universal vendor qualification, reference, or procurement package; recipient purchases remain subject to the particular earmark language and applicable procurement requirements.
Submission and forms
Applications are submitted through GEM$. At the LEA level, required roles include the grant writer for Fund Code 1192, an LEA fiscal representative for financial review and approval, and Superintendent/Chief Executive sign-off. Required forms must be uploaded, maintained, or sent as directed in GEM$. General questions go to the Federal Grants Program Office; DESE directs earmark-specific funding questions to the applicable state legislative contact. No separate addendum or FAQ is identified on the governing DESE page.
Atlas assessment
Atlas Opportunity Score: 88/100. School Funding Score: 95/100. N9+ Fit: 60/100 conditional. The N9+ score is not a program-wide equipment determination; it applies only to the small subset of named earmarks whose enacted purpose could legitimately involve clinical training, screening, or school-health capability, with the strongest apparent pathway being Stonehill College’s nursing simulation lab and a secondary possible pathway in Hanover’s cardiac-screening program. Any device or service must still fit the recipient’s enacted purpose, project design, procurement rules, and DESE/GEM$ requirements. QC Healthcare Fit: 70/100 conditional for the health-specific earmarks. Dr. Miltie direct-applicant fit: 0/100 because Dr. Miltie is not a named recipient.
Official sources: Massachusetts DESE — FY27 Fund Code 1192 and FY27 Enacted Budget — 7010-1192.