FY23 A.I. GEM$ (DESE’s Grants for Education Management System)

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is moving to a cloud-based grant administration system (Grants for Education Management System (GEM$)) for many of its FY24 grants, including all major federal entitlement programs. This presentation is geared toward school business officials and will demonstrate key fiscal features, responsibilities, and policies associated with DESE’s move to GEM$, and will identify resources and job aides to facilitate your transition to this new system.

Jenn Ahern

Supervisor, Grants Management

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

William Bell

Associate Commissioner and Chief Financial Officer

Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Kathleen E. Cross

Federal Programs Coordinator, Resource Allocation Strategy and Planning

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Kathy Cross is the State and Federal Resource Coordinator for the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s (DESE’s) Office of Planning and Research, Resource Allocation Strategy and Planning team. Most recently, Kathy has worked to develop consolidated applications and resource materials for federal entitlement grant programs in the new cloud-based grants management system, Grants for Education Management System (GEM$).  She also supports DESE’s strategic planning toolkit for districts, Planning for Success, and coordinates DESE’s pilot program, Spending Blending, which provides districts expansive flexibility in using federal grant funds when combined with state and local resources at Title I schoolwide schools.

Simone Lynch

Federal Grant Programs Director, Resource Allocation Strategy and Planning

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Simone Lynch is the Director of the Office of Federal Grant Programs at the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). In this role, Simone manages a portfolio of Federal Entitlement grants, including Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds, distributed to over 400 Massachusetts school districts. Simone and her team support school districts from the allocation, implementation, technical assistance, and monitoring of the federal entitlement grant programs, including ESSA, IDEA, Perkins, and ESSER COVID Relief Funds. Throughout her 26+ years at DESE, Simone also has Educational Policy experience in Educator Licensure, Educator Effectiveness and Development, and Teacher Recruitment

Robert O'Donnell

Director of School Finance

Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Rob O’Donnell is the Director of School Finance at DESE. The unit that he oversees is responsible for the Chapter 70 program, charter tuition and reimbursement calculations, school choice, the End of Year Report data collection, and the development of related data reports.

Jay Sullivan (Moderator)

Associate Commissioner, School Finance and District Support Center; MASBO Treasurer

Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Jay Sullivan is the Associate Commissioner for District & School Finance in the Department of Elementary & Secondary Education. In this capacity, he directs the Offices of School Finance, School Business and Regional Governance. He also oversees a variety of financial programs, including Special Education Circuit Breaker, School accounting, End of Year Financial Reporting and Auditing, Transportation, as well as federal compliance issues relative to maintenance of effort requirements and the calculation of district’s indirect cost rates. Jay has worked for the Department for over 43 years as an auditor, administrator and business manager.

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Slide Deck: GEM$
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Session Evaluation: GEM$ (DESE’s Grants for Education Management System)
Recorded 05/18/2023  |  60 minutes
Recorded 05/18/2023  |  60 minutes Upon completion of this survey, your PDPs will automatically appear in your MASBO transcript.
PDP Certificate
1.00 PDP credit  |  Certificate available
1.00 PDP credit  |  Certificate available