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Originally Posted by EricH
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Sorry, I thought everything was answered by the documents or posts. If not, I will try to answer them. I am not speaking for FiM but I will tell you what I know.
Who decides how the grant dollars get spent, both big picture, and from day to day? What conditions were built into the grant's stipulations by the donor, and what other criteria have been put in place by the dispersing entity (if it isn't the donor)? For example, are non-school teams eligible to receive some of the $?
I am assuming the grant dollars here refers to the State of Michigan grant. This grant is for FIRST Robotics programs only, more specifically FRC and FTC. This was answered in question #1. The money comes from Michigan Department of Education. MDE decide the rules who gets the money and how much with input from FiM so MDE understands what the needs are. I don't know what he means by big picture and from day to day. The money is not a check book that they write checks every time somebody ask for money. The rules are clear who gets the money. Only teams associated with public schools are eligible for the grant. The money is transferred to the school district in monthly installments as part of the State Aid payment to the school districts. To receive money, teams have to field a robot and compete in two district events. They do not want schools to take the money and not compete. I don't know what he meant by donor. The money comes from Michigan taxpayers. Non public school teams are not eligible to receive any of this grant dollars.
Is it true that FiM does not allow FTC teams containing HS age students to participate in FiM FTC activities?
The short answer is yes. However high schools that want to do FTC can still do it on their own, but they will have to compete outside of Michigan or in non FiM sanctioned events. They can also decide to do other robotics programs. FIRST is not the only one available.