Pre K-12 Grant Program
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General Information
Purpose Statement
The purpose of the Ho-Chunk Nation’s Pre K-12 Educational Grant Program is to:
- Provide Educational grants for parents/guardians in helping their Ho-Chunk Nation enrolled children to develop and equip themselves with the skills, knowledge and personal qualities needed for life and career success through education
- Provide Educational grants for the parents/guardians of Ho-Chunk Nation enrolled children to help meet the basic educational needs and to assist in ensuring that children in grades Pre-School through Grade 12 have the opportunity to fully participate in educational related experiences and unique educational opportunities
Disclaimer Statement
The Pre K-12 Educational Grant Program is wholly funded by the Net Profit Distribution (NPD) funds of the Ho-Chunk Nation. On an annual basis, the Ho-Chunk Nation Legislature appropriates funds to provide additional educational opportunities for Ho-Chunk Nation enrolled children in grades Pre-School through Grade 12. This program is designed to be supplemental and not a primary funding source for families with Ho-Chunk enrolled children.
All applications are subject to approval and funding availability; therefore grants are awarded on a first come, first served basis until the available funds have been spent. Parents/guardians maintain full responsibility for meeting their child’s entire funding needs.
Eligibility Requirements
To qualify for consideration of benefits through this program, a child must:
- Be enrolled in the Ho-Chunk Nation with a valid enrollment number and provide a CDIB to the Education Department.
- Be between the ages of 3 and 19 years; or age 21 if in a transition plan (students with disabilities, IEP); or otherwise stated within the K-12 Educational Grant Program Guidelines.
- Request High School Graduation Expenses by the end of the current fiscal year.
Funding Limits
The Ho-Chunk Nation fiscal year runs from July 1 through June 30. Each Ho-Chunk Nation enrolled student is eligible for up to $2,000 every fiscal year.
Deadlines & Guidelines
Deadlines
To ensure prompt billing and reimbursement, deadlines will be enforced.
- Priority Deadline: All grants received and date stamped by the Education Department by June 15 will be processed as available funds permit.
- Absolute Deadline: The fiscal year ends on June 30. Date stamped applications will be accepted until 4:30pm on June 30. All supporting documents must be received by this date/time. NO EXCEPTIONS
If any funds remain after June 15, the School-Community Relations staff will process completed application, in the order they are received, until June 30th, or until all the Pre K-12 funds are spent. Applications date stamped after June 15th are not guaranteed to be funded.
Funding Timeline
Applications for reimbursements and/or payments will be processed within the Education Department within 3-4 weeks from the date the completed application was received. Please do not call the Ho-Chunk Nation Treasury Department to request the status of a reimbursement/payment.
Guidelines
The School-Community Relations (SCR) Division staff will review all applications for completeness to ensure that ALL required documentation is included with each application. Additional information may be required from family or vendor, such as a W-9 form.
Applications are processed in the order they are date stamped in the Education Department and once all supporting documents are received.
Applications missing information shall not be processed until the required information is submitted by the applicant. The applicant will be contacted and informed of the required information needed by phone and/or email. The file will be held until the application is complete. The PreK-12 Grant Specialist will attempt to contact the parent or guardian 3 times. After the last attempt, the file will be considered “inactive.” Please note that the SCR staff are not always able to “retrieve” or “pull” information from a previous file or application. Although they will do so whenever possible to assist in processing the application in a timely manner. The responsibility to ensure the completeness of an application resides solely with the parent/guardian and not with the SCR staff.
Applications that are not signed will be returned for signature. All new vendors and new parents to the HCN Department of Treasury will be required to submit a W9 form to complete the application.
Payments & Receipts
Payments
Payments provided to a vendor for items such as extracurricular equipment purchases, etc., will require reconciliation with 30 days of payment receipt. If payments have not been reconciled, the student will not be able to use the Prek-12 Grant Program until reconciliation has been completed.
Reimbursements
Reimbursements can only be made during the fiscal year in which the expense occurred and cannot be carried over to the next fiscal year. Therefore, all requests for reimbursements must be received in the Pre K-12 Educational Grant Program office no later than the designated deadlines of the current fiscal year to be considered for processing. Requests for reimbursement submitted after these dates will not be funded and the application will be denied.
Receipts
Receipts must clearly show the date of purchase, the item purchased, and the total amount paid along with method of payment. If a receipt is not a “cash registered” type receipt, it must also have the signature of the selling party or service provider. Proof of payment may be an online payment receipt, a copy of the front and back of a cancelled check, or a billing statement. A shipping invoice does not usually qualify as proof of payment as it only verifies what was shipped. Gift Cards, discounts and store credit are not a valid form of payment and will not be reimbursed, unless the receipt for the gift card purchase is also included.
Care of Receipts
Please do not use tape on original receipts because the adhesive erases ink. All items for reimbursement must be clear and easy to read, including description, code, and price. We will not reimburse items we cannot read. When photocopying a long receipt, overlap the listed items so we can prove the photocopy is complete. Do not write on the original receipt. If you are providing copies of the receipts, each receipt should be on a different piece of paper. Do not combine multiple receipts on one page. If purchases for multiple children are on the same receipt, each item must be labeled with the name of the child the purchase was made for.
Appeals & Waitlists
Appeal Letters
A letter of appeal may be submitted to the School-Community Relations Division Director explaining the extenuating circumstance for missing deadlines or not fulfilling grant requirements. A decision will be made by the School-Community Relations Division Director, with an explanation, once all circumstances have been addressed for each individual appeal made.
Alternative Funding Source
Alternative Funding Sources must be utilized to comply with the Ho-Chunk Nation Appropriations and Budget Process Act. The Ho-Chunk Nation is the “payer of last resort” meaning that applicants must seek out other funding sources, such as the Johnson-O’Malley (JOM) Program or program scholarships, prior to applying for the Pre K-12 Educational Grant Program.
Receipts
Scholarships, Waivers, and Fundraising Buy-Outs will be monitored by the Pre K-12 Grant Specialists. Applicants are strongly encouraged to apply for scholarships or waivers if available for that program. This includes fundraising opportunities within the organization, if available. We will not pay or reimburse fundraising requirement funding for extra-curricular activities
Waitlists for Camps, Out of State Travel, Foreign Exchange Program, etc.
Students are not eligible for reimbursement if placed on a waitlist. Reimbursement will not occur until we are provided proof of acceptance or attendance/participation at the camp, travel, event, etc.
Johnson O'Malley Information
Johnson O'Malley
Johnson O'Malley is a National program that provides assistance to ALL Native American students and is often administered through the School Districts or through a Tribally run program. If you are located within one of the 11 Ho-Chunk Nation JOM areas in Wisconsin, your child/children MUST be registered before being considered for funding through PreK-12.
The Ho-Chunk Nation’s Appropriations and Budget Process Act requires alternative funding sources are utilized prior to expenditure of NPD funds, each applicant for the Pre K-12 Educational Grant program must seek out assistance from their local Johnson O’Malley Parent committee prior to applying for Pre K-12 funds. If there is an active JOM program in your area, a letter from your area committee or a copy of meeting minutes from the meeting you sought assistance will fulfill this requirement. If there is not an active JOM program in the area, a letter from your school district or the local tribe will be sufficient proof that this requirement has been met.
Grant List
Explore the available grants below to read their descriptions and required documentation.
Apply Now
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