School Action Fund, Cycle 6 Application

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. Now more than ever we need to create schools of the future to meet community and students’ needs. Since 2017, the School Action Fund (SAF) has supported more than 60 districts across the state to plan and implement over 200 school actions in 18 regions across the state.

The purpose of this letter is to announce the 2022–2023 School Action Fund - Cycle 6 Planning and Implementation Grant 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 additional information.

Purpose of the Program

The purpose of the School Action Fund is to support districts with grant funds and technical assistance to plan and implement school actions. School actions are bold approaches taken by districts to increase the number of students in highly rated schools. 

The 2022–2023 School Action Fund - Cycle 6 Planning and Implementation Grant will support the following school actions: 

• Restart a struggling school as an Accelerating Campus Excellence (ACE) or resource campus
• Create a new school as a district-run STEM/STEAM, college prep, or Montessori school OR as a partner-managed early childhood campus
• Redesign a school as a blended learning campus OR a rural-focused P-20 model

All school actions and models include the following components: 1) an Effective Schools Framework-aligned school model; 2) high-quality instructional materials, plans to deliver that curriculum and instruction remotely and asynchronously if needed, and implementation of research-based instructional strategies; 3) high-impact tutoring; and 4) extended day or year. 

Exceptional applicants will present a strong will and commitment to plan and implement a school action and to work with a TEA-designated and matched school action technical assistance provider. Applications must include a clear intent to adopt and implement high-quality instructional materials. Awards will include funding support for a highly qualified designated campus leader to lead planning and/or implementation activities in school year 2022-2023. 

Eligible Applicants

TEA will seek applications from local educational agencies (LEAs) on behalf of eligible 2018-2019 Title I-served Comprehensive-rated and Targeted D/F-rated campuses. 

A campus may not receive funding concurrently from Texas Title I Priority School (TTIPS), an Effective Schools Framework (ESF) grant, a School Action Fund (SAF) Cycles 4 or 5 grant, a TCLAS Decision 10 grant, or a Teacher Leadership grant. An LEA with multiple eligible campuses must submit individual applications for each campus for which it seeks funds.

Project Funding

TEA anticipates awarding Planning grants of up to $200,000 per campus. 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, 2023. Grantees may be eligible for non-competitive continuation funding to support the implementation of the school action. Additionally, it is anticipated that up to 6 Implementation grants, specifically for ACE restart action, will be awarded at up to $375,000 per campus. 

The number and final amount of each award will depend on the number of eligible applicants, the school actions selected, and the strength of applications. 

Timeline

• TEA will host an informational webinar on April 7, 2022, (1:00–2:00 P.M. CST). 
• Register here for the April 7, 2022  School Action Fund Cycle 6 Information Webinar: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYtc--pqTwrG9fVlmSZ8fqkRpAn1XeKJ6f7A second informational webinar will be held on April 8, 2022 (8:00–9:00 A.M. CST). 
• Register for the April 8, 2022 School Action Fund Cycle 6 Informational Webinar: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEpdO2rrD8vEtGpc2HHy1r4H5F4KgJvzAN6. 
• TEA will release the request for application (RFA) on March 25, 2022. 
• The application will be due on May 9, 2022, at 5 p.m. 
• The target grant start date is August 12, 2022.

For more information, webinars, school action and model details, please regularly visit the SAF webpage, the Center for School Actions website, or email schoolactionfund@tea.texas.gov.

If you have questions regarding the content of this letter, please contact the School Action Fund program via email at schoolactionfund@tea.texas.gov.

Sincerely,
Laura Hyatt
Manager, School Action Fund
Division of System Support and Innovation