Geo-Regional Experts for Multilingual Students Grant Program (GEMS)

Geo-Regional Experts for Multilingual Students Grant Program (GEMS) is sponsored by California Department of Education (CDE). This program strengthens California's Statewide System of Support by ensuring local educational agencies (LEAs) receive coordinated technical assistance, resources, and professional development to improve English language development (ELD) instruction and outcomes for English Le…

Geo-Regional Experts for Multilingual Students Grant Program - California Grants Portal The purpose of this program is to strengthen California’s Statewide System of Support by ensuring that local educational agencies (LEAs) receive coordinated technical assistance, resources, and professional development to improve English language development (ELD) instruction and outcomes for English Learner and long-term English learner (LTEL) students, as specified in California Education Code (EC) Section 52073.

4 . The 2025–26 Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve Education Omnibus Trailer Bill, Assembly Bill 121 (Chapter 52, Statutes of 2025) Section 50 provides $2 million annually, beginning in the 2026–27 fiscal year, to support between five and seven competitive regional English learner (EL) lead agencies.

Selected county offices of education (COEs) will be recognized in California’s Statewide System of Support under the title of Geo-Regional Experts for Multilingual Students (GEMS).

The GEMS will perform the following duties: -Build the capacity of COEs to provide technical assistance to support the development, implementation, and evaluation of effective EL instructional programs; -Coordinate and calibrate within and across the System of Support to tailor assistance and support to LEAs; -Provide support around high-quality ELD instruction statewide; -Identify and disseminate information about existing regional resources, professional development, and efforts that support effective English language acquisition programs; -Support the meaningful integration of the California English Learner Roadmap Policy (EL Roadmap) within the Statewide System of Support; -Develop new resources and capacity-building activities for LEAs to improve outcomes for EL students, including LTEL students; -Participate in the Statewide Literacy Network; and -Fulfill other responsibilities as specified by the California Department of Education (CDE).

Under this program, selected COEs will receive a minimum of $250,000 to strengthen capacity within their designated regions. Additional funds may be available depending on the needs of the region and the size of the program. To learn more about the Request for Application (RFA), including the timeline and application workshop webinar, please refer to the CDE GEMS RFA web page .

To be eligible for selection, county offices of education must commit to assigning a dedicated, . 7 FTE staff member with subject matter expertise to the GEMS role for the duration of the grant. The CDE will ultimately select the grantees in a manner that ensures statewide coverage, including considering diversity across rural and urban settings.

The CDE may reject any application that does not meet technical standards, lacks responsiveness, or is otherwise deemed ineligible. The date (and time, where applicable) by which all applications must be submitted to the grantmaker. Time listed as “00:00” equates to midnight.

Expected award announcement The date on which the grantor expects to announce the recipient(s) of the grant. The length of time during which the grant money must be utilized. Total estimated available funding The total projected dollar amount of the grant.

Expected number of awards A single grant opportunity may represent one or many awards. Some grantors may know in advance the exact number of awards to be given. Others may indicate a range.

Some may wish to and wait until the application period closes before determining how many awards to offer; in this case, a value of “Dependent” will display. Estimated amount per award Grant opportunities representing multiple awards may offer awards in the same amount or in varied amounts.

Some may wish to wait until the application period closes before determining per-award amounts; in this case, a value of “Dependent” will display. Letter of Intent Required? Certain grants require that the recipient(s) provide a letter of intent.

Requires Matched Funding? Certain grants require that the recipient(s) be able to fully or partially match the grant award amount with another funding source. The funding source allocated to fund the grant.

It may be either State or Federal (or a combination of both), and be tied to a specific piece of legislation, a proposition, or a bond number. The manner in which the grant funding will be delivered to the awardee. Funding methods include reimbursements (where the recipient spends out-of-pocket and is reimbursed by the grantor) and advances (where the recipient spends received grant funds directly).

Advances & Reimbursement(s) State agencies/departments recommend you read the full grant guidelines before applying. For questions about this grant, contact: Language Policy and Leadership Office, 1-916-319-0845, gems@cde. ca.

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