To: Undersecretaries
Assistant Secretaries
Bureau Directors
Directors of Services/Centers and Heads of Units
Regional Directors
Schools Division/City Superintendents
Heads, Public Elementary and Secondary Schools
All Others Concerned

1. To accelerate the attainment of quality education by public elementary and secondary schools nationwide pursuant to the reforms advocated under Basic Education Sector Reform Agenda (BESRA), the Department of Education (DepED) in collaboration with its development partners, is continuing the provision of School-Based Management (SBM) Grants using funds from the FY 2009 General Appropriations Act (GAA) and funds from AusAID through its project, Support to Philippine Basic Education Reform (SPHERE) administered by the World Bank.
2. For uniformity of implementation and other reporting requirements, the provisions of DepED Order No. 55, s. 2008 entitled “School-Based Management Grant, FY 2007 Budget” and all the annexes (Annexes A, B and C) of said Order are herein employed, save for some modifications described hereunder:2.1 Allocation of SBM Grants
   1. Under the FY 2009, all regions and divisions shall receive the SBM Grant. Annex 1 shows the breakdown of allocations by region, and by division. These allocations have been derived based on the 30-70 formula: 30% weight is given to the average of three (3) crucial performance indicators, namely: participation rate, cohort survival rate and achievement rate; while 70% weight is given to the pro¬rated distribution of the total number of schools in the division/region. Low performing divisions shall remain to be the priority under the FY 2009 GAA.
   2. Under SPHERE, the provision of SBM shall be limited to project- support provinces. Annex 2 shows the distribution of allocations by region and by division. The SPHERE project areas consist of one hundred forty-seven (147) divisions, broken down into twenty (20) top performing divisions and one hundred twenty-seven (127) priority divisions deemed to be the most disadvantaged based on the average of participation rate, completion rate, dropout rate and achievement rate for the past three years. Included in the 127 divisions are the 47 priority divisions that already received their initial/full allotments early this year.
   3. The release of corresponding allotments to recipient divisions shall be dependent upon full liquidation of the previous SBM grants for FYs 2006 and 2007 GAA, as evidenced by the submission of Statements of Expenditures and Utilization Reports. Annexes 3A and 3B show the desired report formats for the purpose.

   2.2 Selection and Prioritization of School Recipients

   1. The Division SBM Task Forces shall choose the eligible elementary and secondary schools under the GAA FY 2009 Grant based on the average of the following school performance indicators: promotion rate, repetition rate, achievement rate, dropout rate and achievement level of the most recent SY. Annex 4 shows the sample matrix for prioritizing schools. Low performing schools shall continue to be the priority, particularly those who have not availed any of the previous grants. The matrix used for choosing priority schools must be submitted to Office of the Planning Service (OPS) through the regional office concerned, for records purposes.
   2. For SPHERE, the priority school beneficiaries shall be the public elementary schools in the project-supported divisions listed in Annex 2 with approved School Improvement Plans and are in difficult situations such as, but not limited to the conditions listed in Annex 5. The Division SBM Task Force must consider these factors when prioritizing school beneficiaries for SBM grant.
   3. The concerned Schools Division Superintendents shall call for the submission of school proposals to determine the eligible schools using the prioritization criteria described in Items 2.2a (FY 2009 SBM Grant) and 2.2b (SBM Grant under SPHERE). Annex 6 shows a template of said school proposal which the division offices may adopt/adapt for the purpose.
   4. The recipient schools may include those which were already recipients of SBM grants under GAA CY 2006 and 2007, as well as under the Government of Spain-Government of the Philippines improvement of Quality of Primary Education Project in Regions V and Caraga, provided that they have already liquidated the previous grants.
   5. The Division SBM Task Force shall forward a Summary Report (Annex 7) to the Planning and Programming Division, Office of Planning Service, DepED Complex, Meralco Avenue, Pasig City on or before July 15, 2009 at telefax no.: (02) 638-8634 or e-mail address at mttalinio@gmail.com; rbmasapol@gmail.com copy furnished: Office of Budget Division c/o Mr. Selwyn Briones at e-mail address: selwyn@yahoo.com.

   2.3 Amount of SBM Grant
   The amount of SBM grant for each recipient school shall be Fifty Thousand Pesos (PhP50,000).

   2.4 Eligible Activities/Expenditure Items

   1. Eligible Activities
      The GAA CY 2009 SBM Grant shall be used to finance activities related to establishment and strengthening of school-based management structures and processes, as well as the implementation of SIPs/AIPs. For the SPHERE SBM Grant, eligible activities shall be those intended for SIP/AIP implementation only. In terms of SIP/AIP implementation, eligible activities under this SBM grant shall be those supportive of the following programs/innovations as contained in the approved AIP/SIP, including, but not limited to the following:
      • Multigrade Education;
      • Special programs for Indigenous and Muslim children;
      • Special programs for children in difficult circumstances (street children, child laborers); and
      • Innovations such as Alternative Delivery Mode to address absenteeism and dropouts, use of Mother-Tongue-Based Multilingual Education and Peace Education.
   2. Eligible expenditure items include:
      • Supplies and materials (for the development of supplementary instructional materials and implementation of school-based teacher training);
      • Food and supplies for school feeding;
      • Meals during meetings and school-based teacher trainings (not exceeding 10% of total grant);
      • Transportation expenses of resource persons;
      • Reproduction cost of teaching and learning materials; and
      • Procurement of supplementary instructional materials, per DepED Order No. 52, s. 2007 (not exceeding 20% of the total grant)
   3. Ineligible expenditures. Items considered ineligible under this grant are: 1) hiring and payment of salaries of additional staff; 2) purchase of equipment (per latest COA circular), 3) payment of allowances and/or honoraria, 4) training of school or cluster heads in SBM, and 5) expenditures chargeable against the school’s Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) budget.
   4. Each regional and division office is herein entitled to Program Support Funds to be sourced from the FY 2009 GAA SBM Grant budget. The amounts allotted per region/division are also reflected in Annex 1. Among others, it will be used to support activities relative to providing technical assistance to schools and quality assure the implementation of the grants. Likewise, the Central Office shall be provided with said funds to support activities related to SBM grant monitoring and evaluation, operation of the SBM Unit under the Planning and Programming Division and SBM policy re¬formulation and implementation. Regional and division work plans on the utilization of said Program Support Fund must be submitted to telefax no. and e-mail addresses found in Item 2.2.e, this Order.

   2.5 Miscellaneous Provisions

   1. For newly created divisions, the SBM grants shall be released to their mother divisions. The Regional SBM Task Force is hereby authorized to decide on the distribution of the funds between the mother and the newly-created division/s using the 30-70 formula described in Item 2.1.a. A copy of said decision by the Regional SBM Task Force must be sent to OPS within a month from release of this Order.
   2. In cases where school heads could not draw cash advance due to legal and administrative impediments, the Schools Division Superintendents shall take immediate appropriate action to ensure that such schools will not be deprived of the grant.
   3. The Regional and Division SBM Task Forces and the Planning Officers, are hereby directed to submit Progress Report of SBM Grant implementation to PPD-OPS on a monthly basis. The same teams are also expected to monitor and report on the activities charged against the Program Support Funds sourced from FY GAA, and to ensure that all are fully liquidated at the close of the school year.
3. Provisions contained in previous DepED Orders inconsistent with this Order are hereby amended.
4. Immediate dissemination of and compliance with this Order is directed.

Encls.:
As stated
References:
DepED Order: (Nos. 55, s. 2008 and 52, s. 2007)
Allotment: 1- -(D.O. 50-97)

To be indicated in the Perpetual Index under the following subjects:
FUNDS
PROGRAMS
POLICY
PROJECTS

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