Join Chalkbeat Colorado’s free each day publication to get the most recent reporting from us, plus curated information from different Colorado shops, delivered to your inbox.
When Colorado Gov. Jared Polis introduced a flash $2.7 million grant program for classroom provides in August, hundreds extra lecturers utilized than there was cash to serve.
However now many are getting a second likelihood. On Friday, Polis introduced one other $1.2 million in funding that may enable 2,348 extra awards to educators who missed out the primary time. In complete, the August and September grants are funding about 7,700 initiatives, leaving solely 271 unfunded.
The grant program, which gives as much as $600 per trainer, is funded by federal COVID reduction cash. States and faculty districts are within the means of allocating and spending the final of that cash now.
The state is awarding the college provide grants in partnership with DonorsChoose, a nonprofit that helps lecturers safe donations from the general public. Academics needed to write a brief essay describing how they might use the cash to assist college students “by pandemic-impacted studying.” The state supplied a related grant program in 2023, with grants as much as $1,000 awarded to almost 7,400 educators.
Academics who obtained the grants for classroom supplies in August used the cash for a variety of things, together with microscopes, mannequin rockets, gardening provides, frog dissection kits, a doc digital camera, and Spanish-language books. Along with paying for every trainer’s requested provides, the state grants cowl what are described on the challenge pages as “prompt donations” to DonorsChoose — often $60 to $90.
Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, overlaying early childhood points and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.
