Notice of Funding Availability: Grants for Nonpublic Students Transportation Pilot Program in FY27
Maryland’s Fiscal Year 2027 Operating Budget has appropriated $250,000 in special funds from the Transportation Trust Fund for program J00A01 Operating Grants-In-Aid within the Office of the Maryland Department of Transportation Secretary for the purpose of providing a grant to the Recipient to develop a pilot project to increase transportation opportunities for K-12 students not already being bused by public school systems. The pilot program, which is intended to mitigate traffic congestion in the region, is limited to transportation involving schools and/or students in Baltimore County. The Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore, and its constituent agency, the Baltimore Jewish Council, were designated in the budget to administer this pilot program.
Key Dates:
Application Period Opens: Monday, June 1, 2026
Informational Zoom Webinar: Monday, June 15, 2026, 11:30 a.m.
Application Due Date: Tuesday, July 7, 2026, 5 p.m.
Grant Decision Announcement: Tuesday, July 14, 2026 (sooner if possible)
Eligibility – Any nonprofit – whether a school, a consortium of schools, or other institution – is eligible to apply. Transportation must involve schools located in Baltimore County and/or students living in Baltimore County.
Application – Interested nonprofits should apply to the Baltimore Jewish Council (a constituent agency of The Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore).
Applications must be submitted no later than Tuesday, July 7, 2026, at 5 p.m., via email to transportationgrant@associated.org.
The application – a maximum of 1,500 words – should include:
- The school(s) to be served by the expanded busing.
- The amount of grant funding requested.
- How many additional students will be bussed as a result of a grant award.
- How the grant funds will be spent in order to achieve the increased number of students bused.
- Discussion of environmental impact if the grant were to be awarded.
- Any characteristics of the applicant that would apply to the equity considerations, such as the applicant’s eligibility to participate in Maryland’s BOOST scholarship program.
Selection – The goal of the grant funding is to supplement, not supplant current funds allocated to busing. The Baltimore Jewish Council (on behalf of The Associated) will rate each application based on the following factors ranked on a 50-point scale:
- How Many Additional Students Will Be Bused – To meet the goal of bussing as many additional students as possible. This should be measured in terms of student trips – busing one student to or from school one day would count as a single student trip. (15 pts)
- Efficiency of Grant Award – Dollars spent per student trip. (15 pts)
- Explanation of Environmental Impact – Details of expected positive environmental impacts of increased busing for additional students. (10 pts)
- Feasibility of Approach – To assure that spending the funding will actually result in additional students being bused. (5 pts)
- Other Equity Considerations – Such as distributing impact to multiple schools in diverse regions within the county or focusing impact on school eligible to participate in the BOOST program. (5 pts)
Decisions – Awards to be announced by Tuesday, July 14, 2026. The Baltimore Jewish Council (on behalf of The Associated) will select the highest-rated applicants to receive up to a maximum of $125,000 per applicant. Applicants will be informed of their selection and have ten business days to confirm their interest and sign a grant agreement. The selected applicants, or the subcontractors they intend to use to provide the transportation, must provide proof of necessary insurance coverage, including commercial general liability and automobile liability.
Bus Route Operation – Beginning in the start of the 2026-27 school year, awardees will begin providing services along the established routes for the awardees. Awardees will be reimbursed by the Baltimore Jewish Council (on behalf of The Associated) following the submission of quarterly invoices as services are delivered.
Reporting – By December 31, 2026, awardees will provide an interim report on the program, including metrics on results and costs, to the Baltimore Jewish Council to inform deliberations during the 2027 legislative session. An updated report will be provided by June 30, 2027, reflecting a full year of operations and impact.
Additional information – The Associated/Baltimore Jewish Council will post all of the information to the BJC website. (www.baltjc.org)
A webinar to answer questions will be held on Monday, June 15, 2026, 11:30 a.m. Click here to sign up to participate in the webinar. https://jcfb.zoom.us/meeting/register/Mt-c0MHdQlOIU2NvlQk6Dg
A recording of the webinar will be made available within two days of the webinar.
Questions may also be submitted via email at transportationgrant@associated.org. Responses will be provided within 2 business days. Submitted questions and responses that are deemed relevant to other applicants will be posted to the BJC website.
