The BRUMAN team is pleased to announce the opening of registration for our Spring Forum, which will be held May 2nd through May 5th, 2022! We informed our Fall Forum attendees during the first week of December that the Spring Forum, which has been held in Washington D.C. for the past 30 years, will be virtual. It was apparent to us last month, even prior to the recent COVID surge throughout the nation, that the cost of hotel rooms in the D.C. area in early May has now become prohibitively expensive. We believe it makes much more sense for you to have us provide this critically important professional development virtually, particularly at this point with uninterrupted crises in administering grants at the state, local, and postsecondary level. Our Fall Forum next December, however, will again be in person back at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Clark County.

With all of the additional resources now available under ESSER, HEERF and ARPA, there have been so many questions, and considerable confusion on the conflicting funding availability timeframes, allowability of costs, allocability to existing grant programs, need for time and effort certifications, audits, monitoring and risk assessments. And now the U.S. Education Department has announced that EDGAR will be revised as early as this month, which will add to the recent OMB changes to the Uniform Guidance which went into effect on July 1, 2021 for the state-administered programs under the ESEA, IDEA, Perkins, AEFLA WIOA, and the Higher Education Act.

The forum will commence on May 2nd with two EDGAR pre-sessions. While both will include the 2022 changes announced by ED, one will focus on the responsibilities of pass-through and state eligible agencies, and the other will focus on the requirements governing local education agencies, postsecondary institutions, non-profits and charters. There will be ample time during these two sessions to have all your questions on EDGAR and the Uniform Guidance answered.

The forum itself will then run four hours a day (noon to 4 PM EST) from May 3rd to May 5th, with both general and breakout sessions catered to the most pressing matters in federal grants management. Secretary of Education Cardona has been invited to provide an update on federal efforts to keep schools and colleges open. Rhea Hubbard from OMB is invited to discuss recent OMB initiatives on further streamlining the federal grants management process. Mark Robinson, Director of the Department’s Risk Management Service, will explain the Department’s strategies for assessing the risks aligned with the more than tripling of the federal budget for education accomplished by ESSER, GEER, and HEERF. And Keith Cummings from OIG will address current federal auditing for ESSER and HEERF. Program officials from OCTAE have been invited to discuss federal monitoring under Perkins V.

We will also feature panels comprised of state, local and postsecondary administrators to learn how they are dealing with these uninterrupted crises in effectively managing their federal stimulus funds and regular grants. And of course, the BRUMAN team will lead sessions covering legislative developments on the Hill, likely funding scenarios for the program year beginning July 1, 2022 including the proposal to double funding for Title I of ESEA, timeliness of spending federal funds under the Tydings Amendment, avoiding the lapsing or late liquidation of funds, preparing for and defending audits, developing compliant internal controls, blending and braiding of funds, as well as addressing staff shortages in the long and short term.

We understand that you have choices as to conferences and professional development. We submit that our forums are the most informative and specifically tailored to the questions and issues you care most about. We urge you to register as soon as possible to reserve your spot as our forums historically sell out within a few weeks. Although the Spring Forum is virtual, we must limit capacity to allow us to adequately respond to your questions. So please register early to guarantee a spot.