Grant Funding Policies

Grant Types:

Grants will be made for projects or goods directly impacting students.
Grants may also be made for “guest artists," which are defined as periodic, at-will, limited support for teachers across a variety of activities. Their contributions are short term in nature for a defined time period, and are delivered in limited blocks during the day, or for fixed, weeks-long periods of time on a project-specific basis. Click here to read the THUSD policies around guest artists.
Grants will not be made for year-to-year classroom staffing needs.
Grants may also be made for staff development programs which have an immediate application in the classroom.
Grants will generally be made for non-recurring expenses.
Grants will not be made to reimburse funds already spent by staff.

Submission:

Grant requests must be submitted in writing by staff. This includes projects or programs that are student-driven.
Applicants must include all expenditures to be funded (including tax, shipping, installation, proposed maintenance, etc.) in the grant proposal budget.
Funds requested for purchase of technology equipment must meet District Computer Purchasing Standards.

Funding Decisions:

The Drake Fund Board will determine the total amount of funds to be allocated in each funding cycle, and may set a minimum and/or maximum dollar limit for grants in any funding cycle.
The Allocations Committee reserves the right to recommend partial or no funding of any proposal.
The Allocations Committee will consider whether the Drake Fund is the most appropriate funding source for each proposal, and may decline to fund proposals if other sources seem more appropriate.

Timing:

Funds granted in the Fall allocations cycle must be spent by the end of the current school year.
Funds granted in the Spring allocations cycle must be spent by the end of the following school year.
Any unspent funds will revert back to the Drake Fund, unless prior arrangements for a deadline waiver is made with the Drake Fund.

Follow Up:

Grant recipients may be asked to furnish a brief, formal evaluation on the use of their grant funds to the Drake Fund Board.
Grant recipients may be asked to publicly acknowledge how the Drake Fund grant has enhanced their classroom or department. This may include the use of quotes and/or multi-media for use in Drake Fund promotional materials.
All materials purchased with Drake Fund grant funds are gifts of the Drake Fund to HS 1321 / Drake, and remain the property of the school, not any individual grant recipient.

Last updated: September, 2020