Understanding Your Contract Year

If my RIF service's end date is in the middle of the school year, how can I run a school year program?

All RIF services have a contract year that runs from the date on which their proposal is approved (start date) until their termination date. All RIF activities need to be completed within this time frame (usually a 10—12 month period). How you plan your RIF program is up to you. As long as each distribution is at least 30 days apart, you may plan your three distributions during any three months of your contract year.

Because of their end date, some programs associated with schools are unable to hold all of their distributions within one school year. Programs like this need to plan their RIF activities according to dates of their contract year rather than the school year calendar. For example, a program with a January 31st end date may hold its first distribution in March, its second in May, and its third during the following September. This gives the program ample time to complete the performance report and a new proposal before January 1st.

How can I follow the RIF guideline that requires each child receive three books through three distributions within the contract year, if my contract year does not match the school year calendar?

It may seem as though by running a program over two school years, as in the example above, you would be violating RIF’s guidelines. However, as long as you serve the same grades, classrooms, or other defined population of children, you are abiding by RIF’s guidelines. If you look at the children as enrollment slots within the spaces you serve, you are still serving the same enrollment slots. If you maintain the same distribution schedule for several years, the individual children will also receive three books within each school year.

For example, Jefferson Elementary School’s RIF program has a November end date. This program serves the third grade through January, April and August distributions, thus holding three distributions within their contract year. Two of these distributions fall in one school year, and the third occurs during the following school year. This schedule of distributions is repeated every year. Through this program, a third grade student at Jefferson receives three books over the school year (in August, January, and April). Therefore, every child receives three books through three distributions over the school year when the program maintains the same distribution schedule over consecutive contract years.

If your end date does not correspond to your school year, please remember to:

• Plan a distribution schedule that fits within your contract year. This schedule may span two school years, or it may fit into one. Choose the schedule that works best for you and your program.
• Leave at least a full calendar month between your distributions.
• Leave plenty of time before and after your endn date to complete paperwork, receive your approval from RIF and complete book ordering and planning for the new contract year.
• Maintain a similar distribution schedule over consecutive contract years so that all children are served equally (For example, you should not hold two distributions in one school year and four in the next).

If you have any questions, please contact your account support representative

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