School Action Fund

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The Texas Education Agency (TEA) is committed to relentlessly focusing on improving low-performing schools by transforming these schools and creating better options for students. The purpose of this letter is to announce two School Action Fund grant opportunities and provide district leadership teams with high-level information regarding eligible applicants, the purpose of the grant program, and timelines.  Districts should consult the Request for Application (RFA) and Program Guidelines available on the TEA Grant Opportunities page for final information.

2019-2020 School Action Fund – Planning Grants and

Eligible Applicants

TEA will seek applications from local education agencies (LEAs) on behalf of eligible campuses.  Eligible applicants are LEAs with 2018-2019 Comprehensive Schools. A campus may not receive funding concurrently from Texas Title I Priority School (TTIPS) Cycle 4 or 5 grant funds, a 2017 - 2019 School Redesign grant, a School Transformation Fund grant, a Transformation Zone grant, or a Teacher Leadership grant. An LEA with multiple eligible campuses will be asked to submit individual applications for each campus for which it seeks funds.

Purpose of the Program

The purpose of the School Action Fund is to assist and support districts in the planning or implementation of a school action in Title I comprehensive or targeted schools, providing an opportunity for districts to create new and improved learning environments that substantially increase student achievement. To learn more about school actions, please visit https://www.centerforschoolactions.org.

Project Funding

The funds for this grant competition are made available through state-reserved school improvement funds under Title I, Section 1003 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). LEAs will be allowed to apply for a planning or implementation grant on behalf of eligible comprehensive campuses.

For the planning grant, TEA will award grants ranging in amounts from $300,000 to $400,000. The grants will fund applicants during the planning phase of a school action for up to a 12-month grant period ending on July 31, 2020. Upon completion of the grant term, grantees may be eligible for continuation funding to support the implementation of the school action. The total amount of funding available for planning grants will be approximately $12 million.

For the implementation grant, TEA will award grants ranging in amounts from $500,000 to $2,000,000. The grants will fund applicants during the implementation phase of a school action for up to a 24-month grant period ending on July 31, 2021. The total amount of funding available for this project will be approximately $20 million.

The number of projects funded will depend on the number of eligible applicants, the school action selected, and the strength of applications. 

Program Description

School Actions are a comprehensive and bold approach by districts to increase the number of students in highly-rated schools through supported planning and implementation of a school action in comprehensive schools. There are five school action models eligible for planning/implementation grants within the program: creation of a new school; replication of a successful school; restarting of a struggling school; and reassignment of students from a struggling school, as well as an exploratory planning grant (planning only). 

Exceptional applicants will present a strong will to plan/implement a school action supported by a TEA-designated and -matched school action technical assistance provider. School action technical assistance providers will demonstrate a strong track record of developing and implementing school actions and will be rigorously vetted and selected by TEA.

Timeline

TEA will release the RFA on March 1, 2019.  The application will be due on May 2, 2019 at
5 p.m. The grant cycle will begin on July 1, 2019.

If you have questions regarding the content of this letter, please contact the Division of System Support & Innovation at (512) 463-8922 or by email at DSSI@tea.texas.gov.

Sincerely,
Marian L. Schutte
Director, Division of System Support and Innovation