dear ever-helpful colleagues,

I just had lunch with a couple of staff members from a nearby school
district and discovered I was a bit out of my element. They wanted to
brainstorm ways to recover more indirect cost and to more adequately
support their grant administration efforts.  They have an indirect cost
"range" approved by the SEA (I read about this in EDGAR at 75.561) and
routinely use an abysmally low rate (about 3% of TDC, the bottom of the
range -- and they don't want to use a higher rate than other districts
because it would be politically uncool).

HOWEVER, it looks to me like they have options for calculating F&A, but
I don't want to lead them astray.  I can't believe their "federally
negotiated" rate can be 3%.  Can somebody enlighten me?  Point me to a
good resource?  Show me the disconnect between my experience in public
and private universities and the world my K-12 colleagues operate in?
(Most of their federal funding is USDE, some NSF.)  Any K-12
administrators out there who can set me straight?

Thanks!
(p.s.  I'll bet the list will appreciate it if you reply to me at
xxxxxx@stthomas.edu instead of hitting your answer button now.)

 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Elaine M. Lilly, Ph.D. ** Faculty Grants Coordinator
*** University of St. Thomas   ****   Mail #5045 ***
** 2115 Summit Avenue **** St. Paul MN 55105-1096 **
(612) 962-6038 * FAX 962-5406 * xxxxxx@stthomas.edu
WEB SITE: http://www.stthomas.edu/www/facgrant_http