School Arts Support Grants

The School Arts Support Grants aim to assist public, private, and charter schools in South Carolina by providing up to $2,500 per grant to acquire necessary materials, equipment, or professional development. This funding is specifically targeted to address COVID-related learning loss in the arts and to foster innovation and integration of the arts into core subjects. Schools may apply for up to two grants per fiscal year, emphasizing the importance of enhancing students' artistic education.

NOTE: Application period: August 13, 2024 – February 18, 2025
Applications must be submitted at least five weeks (unless otherwise noted by an * below) before grant-funded activities begin or purchases are made. However, earlier applications are encouraged. Applicants do not need to wait until five weeks before their project starts to apply.
Here are some time-specific deadlines:
September 2, 2024, for projects beginning October 7 or later.September 30, 2024, for projects beginning November 4 or later.October 28, 2024, for projects beginning December 9* or later.December 2, 2024, for projects beginning January 13, 2025* or later.January 6, 2025, for projects beginning February 10 or later.February 3, 2025, for projects beginning March 10 or later.
Purpose
To help schools acquire the supplies, materials/equipment, or professional development needed to address learning loss gaps in the arts, promote innovation in the arts classroom, and/or support arts integration initiatives to remediate core subject areas.
Use of Funds
School Arts Support Grants should have a strong connection to addressing COVID related learning loss in and through the arts, promoting arts innovation, and/or increasing capacity to utilize arts integration as a teaching practice.
SAS grant funds may be used, in one of the following ways:

• Materials/Equipment/Supplies
• Examples could include:
• Arts materials that will enhance teaching of areas that students are lagging in due to learning disruptions
• Instruments to complete or increase a classroom set
• Materials for an arts integration lesson
• Equipment such as a pottery wheel, kiln or printing press

Please Note: Grant funds should supplement (add to) not supplant (replace) your current arts budget, meaning that grant funds should pay for materials/projects that are BEYOND your current budget capacity. Grant funds should NOT pay for materials/projects so that your current arts budget can be used elsewhere.
Professional Development Opportunities
Examples could include:

• Membership to state or national arts education associations
• Conference, travel, and hotel fees for state or national conferences (travel and hotel must follow the S.C. state travel guidelines and rates).
• Substitute teacher costs to allow for peer-to-peer planning for arts rich learning opportunities
• Arts Residencies

Please note: The artist in residence MUST spend peer to peer training time with the arts teacher to ensure growth in the teacher’s skill level and ability to teach the skill in future years.
Grant recipients must use members of the S.C. Arts Directory for grant-funded activities (see below for additional information)
SAS Grant funds can purchase materials to support the arts residency
Funding
Up to $2,500 per grant request. Individual schools are eligible to receive up to two (2) grants ($5,000 total) per fiscal year.

Eligibility

The applicant must be a public, private, or charter school in South Carolina.Private and charter schools mustbe currently registered with the S.C. Secretary of State’s Office. (Note: Applicants who are exempt from this registration must upload their registration exemption approval.)reflect S.C. as the primary address on all current official organizational documentsIn accordance with federal government policy, all organizations – including (but not limited to) private schools, public school districts, government entities, and nonprofit organizations – must provide a valid UEI number to receive an SCAC grant awardIndividual public schools may use their school district's Unique Entity ID number and do not need to register separately.Formerly the Arts Teacher Support grant, this grant category is now also open to non-arts teachers who are interested in exploring arts integration in their classrooms. Additionally, the SAS grant can support school-wide initiatives/projects that promote arts integration, innovation, and address learning loss in the arts.A non-arts teacher may apply if using the funds for arts integration, however an arts teacher within the school or an arts professional from outside of the school must serve as a partnering expert in the art form that will be utilized.
Multiple teachers from the same school may apply, jointly or separately. We encourage joint applications when possible to maximize the value of the application process for applicant schools. When multiple teachers from the same school apply jointly, one arts teacher must be designated as the contact person for this grant.
Example: If a dance and a science teacher are working together on an integrated learning unit, they may jointly apply for a $2,500 grant to fund the arts integrated project.If a teacher teaches at multiple schools, they may not apply for a multi-school grant. Instead, the teacher should choose which school will apply for the grant. A teacher who teaches at multiple schools may apply for separate grants for each school.Matching Requirements1:2 A 1:2 match means that for each dollar granted, the grantee must match with $0.50 of their own funds. No match is required for schools on this S.C. Department of Education list of schools with low-income student populations above 70%.The match for this category must be 100% cash; no in-kind expenses may be counted as part of the applicant’s match.Funds may not be matched with another SCAC grant or with any federal funds.

Ineligibility

Arts in Basic Curriculum Schools are not eligible to apply.A school may receive no more than two SAS grant awards per fiscal year.A school may not receive more than $5,000 in SAS funds per fiscal year, maximum of $2,500 per grant.Direct student services such as field trips or registration/travel fees for an arts eventPurchase of foodPurchase of clothing