“the Trust” Innovation Grants

The “Trust” Innovation Grants, funded by the Public School Districts’ Opioid Recovery Trust, aim to empower public school districts to combat the opioid crisis by developing innovative educational approaches. These grants focus on enhancing support for students affected by the opioid epidemic, including those with special education needs. Eligible districts can collaborate with community partners to implement strategies that integrate mental health supports, curricular modifications, and technology to foster student engagement, ultimately improving educational outcomes for these vulnerable populations.

Public School Districts’ Opioid Recovery Trust
The Public School Districts’ Opioid Recovery Trust (“the Trust”) aims to help public school districts recover from the opioid epidemic and develop responses to enhance educating students harmed by the opioid epidemic. By students harmed by the opioid epidemic we primarily mean students born with neonatal opioid withdrawal symptoms, many of whom require special education supports, but we also mean students who have suffered traumatic family loss and educational interruptions because of the opioid epidemic.
Funding from the trust will go where it will have the greatest help, whether classroom services, school-based behavioral and mental health supports, instructional innovations, or other district and school-based supports that directly affect students harmed by the opioid epidemic.
These grants will enhance the ability of districts to introduce and test new, innovative approaches to support students impacted by the opioid crisis. These approaches can be at the level of the student, the class, the school and/or the district in relation to the family and community and include areas such as teaching approaches, curricular modifications, extended learning opportunities, mental health supports and restorative practices, forms of acceleration and enrichment, and using technology to foster student engagement and increase learning, etc.
Districts can apply for these grants with external civic and community partners or with partner districts. We are primarily interested in improving special education programs serving these students, but we are also interested in the development and improvement of programs that address the needs of these harmed students before classification or in cases when these students have not been classified.

Eligibility

The grants will be awarded to independent public school districts who demonstrate a clear need for opioid recovery and support services and a plan to integrate these services into their existing support frameworks. The grants cannot supplant funding for legally mandated or existing services. The Trust will consider grant applications from districts applying in partnerships with external civic and community partners or with partner districts but in all cases grant funds will be awarded directly to the districts.