District Arts Support Grants

About This Grant

Purpose

This grant supports school districts committed to implementing standards-based arts curricula and making the arts an integral part of the basic curriculum and daily classroom instruction.

Note: For this grant program,

• “standards” refers to South Carolina’s 2017 College and Career Ready Standards for Visual and Performing Arts Proficiency, and
• arts disciplines are creative writing, dance, music, theatre, media arts, and visual art.

Please Note

Grant guidelines are subject to change until application opens.

• Eligibility

  1. The applicant must be a school district in South Carolina.
  2. The applicant district must have a school board-approved Three-Year District Arts Education Strategic Plan for the inclusion of all six arts disciplines in their school day curriculum. The three-year plan should project through the proposed two-year grant cycle or longer, meaning it must include at least the next two school years, and either the preceding or following school year.
  3. The applicant district must have a designated district arts coordinator with appropriate experience in the six arts disciplines, who has responsibility for arts curricula and professional learning  of district arts educators. The district arts coordinator must work at least part-time exclusively at the district level.
     Please note: A classroom teacher or other school-based employee with the additional title of district arts coordinator would not fulfill the arts coordinator requirement unless they have a reduced classroom-load to work half-time at the district level.
  4. In 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 award. *Learn about the new grant requirement: Unique Entity ID (UEI)

     Note: If a grantee is using a fiscal agent/receiver, separate UEI numbers must be provided for both the applicant organization and the fiscal agent/receiver.

• Restrictions

  Applicants may submit only one application per deadline.

  • FY23 District Arts Coordinator grant recipients are not eligible for the FY24 District Arts Support grant.

• Use of Funds

  All grant activities must be rooted in the district’s Arts Education Strategic Plan. Eligible expense categories for this grant are limited to the following:

  • Professional development, consultancies, and comprehensive planning related to arts education
  • Subgranting to arts teachers
  • Supplies, materials, equipment for arts classrooms
  • Residencies and teaching artists
  • Performances and field trips
  • District-wide arts showcases and competitions

  Non-allowable expenses:

  • food, beverages, alcohol, catering services

  If you are hiring artists or teaching artists

  If you are a school or school district: SCAC grant recipients that are schools or school districts are required to use members of the S.C. Arts Directory for grant-funded group lectures, demonstrations, performances, classroom residencies, and short-term arts teaching experiences.

  If you are an organization: SCAC grant recipients that are organizations are strongly encouraged to use members of the S.C. Arts Directory for grant-funded group lectures, demonstrations, performances, classroom residencies, and short-term arts teaching experiences.

  Artists labeled as Certified Teaching Artists on the Arts Directory have been additionally vetted by SCAC through the submission of sample lesson plans, recorded teaching samples, and letters of recommendation; we encourage but do not require grant-funded teaching artist residencies to employ Certified Teaching Artists. Additionally, Arts Access SC Teaching Artists have trained with Arts Access SC to provide children, youth, and adults with disabilities quality arts experiences. NOTE: If working in a school environment, always check with the individual school or district about policies related to hiring artists, arts organizations, and teaching artists.

  • Learn more about the S.C. Arts Directory
  • Search for an artist

• Additional Requirements of this Grant

  Any activities carried out within this grant must align with state guidelines regarding COVID-19.

• Priority

  Priority will be given to school districts that meet the following criteria:

  • Fewer than 50% of schools comprising the district are FY23 ABC schools who receive ABC grant funding. Additional priority will be given to school districts that have no FY23 ABC grant recipients within the district.
  • Districts in SCAC Opportunity Initiative Counties:
    • Allendale
    • Calhoun
    • Cherokee
    • Dillon
    • Edgefield
    • Laurens
    • Lee
    • Marion
    • Marlboro
    • Newberry
    • Saluda

• Deadlines & Grant Period

  Deadlines

  FY23 District Arts Support Group 1 grantees and new applicants:

  • Part One: Letter of Intent to Apply – February 15, 2023
    • The letter of intent will be submitted through the Grants Portal.
    • Please upload your letter of intent on district letterhead.
    • Please include the following in your Letter of Intent to Apply:
      • Statement of intent to apply
      • District demographic overview (number of students in district, % of students in poverty, racial and ethnic breakdown)
      • Number of arts teachers in the district
      • Arts disciplines offered to students (creative writing, dance, music, theatre, media arts, and visual art)
      • A brief overview of the role of the District Arts Coordinator, including designated time for the position (e.g.: half-time, full time)
      • Has the district developed and begun to implement a comprehensive 3-to-5-year District Arts Strategic Plan? If not, will it be in place and board approved by Fall 2023?
      • Any additional information you feel is important for us to know about your district prior to the full grant application.
  • Part Two: Full Grant Application (By Invitation Only) – March 28, 2023

  Applications may be submitted until 11:59 p.m. (Eastern Time) on the deadline date. However, please be aware that staff members will not be available to assist you with questions or technical difficulties after SCAC closes at 5 p.m. that day.

  Grant Period

  July 1, 2023–May 1, 2024 and July 1, 2024–May 1, 2025

  Grants are awarded on a two-year cycle of approval. Separate contracts will be issued each year.

• Funding & Match

  Funding

  Up to $25,000 per year

  Matching Requirements

  2:1 (grantee:SCAC)

  Each $1 awarded must be matched with a $2 cash investment by the district towards the district arts budget. No in-kind expenses are allowed as part of the applicant’s match in this category.

  • Funds from another SCAC grant may not be used as matching funds.
  • Federal funding may not be used as matching funds.

How to Apply

To apply for this grant, you must submit a Letter of Intent to Apply through the grants portal. For questions about this process contact the program director, K-12 Coordinator Amanda Noyes (803.734.8675 | anoyes@arts.sc.gov).

If the program director determines that your intended proposal meets the guideline requirements, you will receive an invitation and instructions for starting your grant application.

If You Are Invited to Apply

There will be a Zoom Coaching Call for approved applicants on March 9, 2023, from 3:30-4:30 p.m. ET.

The SCAC Grants Team and K-12 Coordinator Amanda Noyes will discuss:

• Grants Portal navigation when accessing, completing, and submitting the grant application
• Content and information needed for the FY24 District Arts Support grant application
• Lesson plans, reflection videos, and other required materials

A link to register for this coaching call will be included in an approval email from the Grants Portal (administrator@grantinterface.com). After registering, participants will receive a confirmation email with information about joining the meeting.

• • PLEASE NOTE: You are urged to consider the Review Criteria (detailed in the “Review Process” section of these guidelines, under “After You Apply”) as you prepare your application materials. These criteria will be used to evaluate your application and determine the funding of your proposal.

  • Applications are accepted through our grants portal, which uses the Foundant platform.

    New to Foundant? For frequently asked questions, registration instructions, and other helpful information, we highly recommend visiting the Grants Portal FAQ, before you begin working in the system.

  • As part of your application, you will upload lesson plans and provide links to lesson plan reflection videos and professional development impact videos. We strongly encourage you to prepare these materials, following the instructions provided here, before you visit the grants portal to begin your application.

• Lesson Plans & Reflection Videos

  To demonstrate how visual and performing arts standards at the district level inform and permeate classroom instruction, please select three (3) teachers to share a lesson plan and reflection video.

  Lesson Plan Requirements

  • Unless the size of your district does not allow it, the teachers should represent three (3) different schools.
  • Lesson plans should draw from at least two (2) different grade bands (K-5, 6-8, and 9-12) and include at least two (2) different arts disciplines.
  • We do not require a specific lesson plan format; however, lesson plans should indicate the South Carolina 2017 College and Career Ready Standards for Visual and Performing Arts Proficiency being addressed and, if applicable, should be aligned with the district’s scope and sequence or curriculum guide.
  • Uploaded files may be .doc, .docx, or .pdf format.

  Lesson Plan Reflection Video Requirements

  • Each reflection video should respond to the following prompts in roughly 3-5 minutes:
    • Summarize the lesson objective and activities.
    • Explain how the lesson fits into the larger scope and sequence or curriculum guide (and/or other district-wide arts education expectations or initiatives, if applicable).
    • Answer the question: What reflections on this lesson would you share with other teachers in your district? For example, did a particular activity work well to drive student engagement or make a complex skill more manageable for students? Is there a realization you had, or a change you would hope to implement the next time you teach the lesson?
  • Reflection videos will never be made public and are not intended to be high-stress or masterfully produced. A cell-phone video in selfie-mode or a Zoom/Google Classroom recording is more than enough.
  • You will be asked to provide a URL/ link to a website where each video can be viewed.
    • Social media sites, YouTube, etc. are acceptable, as long as the video can be accessed without login credentials for that platform. Please make sure any support materials shared via link can be accessed by SCAC staff and review panelists. Do not include social media or websites for which a password or other access information is required. For example: If you link to a YouTube video, be sure the privacy setting is “Unlisted” (which just requires the URL) instead of “Private” (which would require a personal invitation for each panelist).

• Professional Development Impact Videos

  Select two (2) professional development participants to submit brief videos reflecting on arts-based professional development that your district provides.

  Video Requirements

  • Each video should answer the following prompt in roughly three to five minutes: Please describe a district-provided arts-based professional development opportunity that you participated in. How has this professional development impacted or informed your teaching?
  • One video should come from an elementary school teacher and one from a middle/high school teacher.
  • Unless impossible due to the size of your district, these teachers should not be the same teachers that submitted lesson plans for this application.
  • Videos will never be made public and are not intended to be high-stress or masterfully produced. A cell-phone video in selfie-mode or a Zoom/ Google Classroom recording is more than enough.
  • You will be asked to provide a URL/ link to a website where each video can be viewed.
    • Social media sites, YouTube, etc. are acceptable, as long as the video can be accessed without login credentials for that platform. Please make sure any support materials shared via link can be accessed by SCAC staff and review panelists. Do not include social media or websites for which a password or other access information is required. For example: If you link to a YouTube video, be sure the privacy setting is “Unlisted” (which just requires the URL) instead of “Private” (which would require a personal invitation for each panelist).

• Your Grants Portal Account

  The applicant must have an active account in our Grants Portal.

  • If you have previously used Submittable to apply for other SCAC grants or programs, please note that the grants portal is a different system. Your Submittable credentials will not work; you will need a grants portal account to apply for this grant.
  • If you have used the grants portal as both an artist and as a contact for a school or organization, be sure you log on with the correct account to apply for this grant.

• Starting Your Application

  PART ONE: LETTER OF INTENT

  1. Follow the “Apply” link below. The Grants Portal will open in a new browser tab or window.
  2. Log on, then click the “Apply” link at the top of your applicant dashboard.
  3. Find “FY24 Education – District Arts Support” in the list of available grant applications, and click the “Apply” button to the far right.

  PART TWO: FULL GRANT APPLICATION

  Based on review of the submitted letters of intent, selected applicants will be invited to develop their proposal into a full grant application. Only those invited to proceed to Part Two will be eligible for District Arts Support funding.

After You Apply

• Review Process & Criteria

  The Grants Team will review submitted applications for completeness and compliance with guideline and application requirements. A review panel of arts education professionals will evaluate the applications based on the published review criteria. An applicant’s panel comments are available to them upon request. Staff will then develop funding recommendations, based on these evaluations and the availability of funds. Recommendations will be presented to the board of commissioners, which makes final award decisions. Award notification is expected after the April 2023 board meeting, pending completion of the state budget process.

  Review Criteria

  Capacity (Arts Budget & Teachers) (20%)

  • The budget is balanced and appropriately designated for arts programming. (8%) (Note: A “balanced” budget for this grant is a budget with no deficit; a surplus is fine.)
  • The budget demonstrates high capacity and commitment to supporting the arts in the district in alignment with the district arts strategic plan. (6%)
  • The teaching staff has appropriate qualifications to teach the arts disciplines to which they are assigned. (6%)

  Curriculum (26%)

  • There is a district-level curriculum guide for implementing state-approved achievement standards in the visual and performing arts. (2%)
  • Lesson plans and lesson plan reflections provide evidence of thoughtful, quality classroom instruction. (10%)
  • A substantial and equitable amount of time is allotted to arts classes in the district. Disparities in the time allotted are minor and the reasons/challenges behind them clearly reflected upon. (6%)
  • Arts offerings are available to students beyond the school day across the district. (4%)
  • The district measures the impact of arts learning on student outcomes. (4%)

  Arts Strategic Plan (26%)

  • The plan creation process provided space for input from various stakeholders and has been communicated comprehensively across the district. (5%)
  • The arts strategic plan will have been board-approved, up to date (extends through the entire two-year grant period), and includes objectives, strategies, and parties accountable for the development and implementation of all activities by the beginning of the grant period. (10 %)
  • There is a plan for regular evaluation of the effectiveness of the district arts strategic plan, and there is evidence that lessons learned from the evaluation have informed and/or will inform adjustments to the plan. (6%)
  • There is evidence of administrative and community support for the District Arts Support grant application (superintendent, principal, and other stakeholders). (5%)

  District Policies (28%)

  • There are regularly scheduled meetings among arts teachers. (8%)
  • There are regularly scheduled meetings among arts and non-arts teachers (for arts-integrated curriculum planning). (4%)
  • Non-arts teachers receive professional learning opportunities in arts integration. (4%)
  • Arts teachers receive relevant arts-specific professional learning opportunities. (8%)
  • Professional learning reflection videos indicate that district-level professional learning positively impacts student outcomes. (4%)

  Priority

  • District ABC Sites
    • Fewer than 50% of schools comprising the district are FY23 ABC schools who receive ABC grant funding. Additional priority will be given to school districts that have no FY23 ABC grant recipients within the district.
  • Opportunity Initiative Counties
    • The applicant district is located in an Opportunity Initiative county.
      • Allendale
      • Calhoun
      • Cherokee
      • Clarendon
      • Dillon
      • Edgefield
      • Hampton
      • Laurens
      • Lee
      • Marion
      • Marlboro
      • Newberry
      • Saluda

• If You Receive a Grant Award

  If your application is funded, you (and your fiscal agent/receiver, if applicable) will enter into a contractual agreement with the South Carolina Arts Commission, and you must comply with all requirements stated in that contract. You will receive notification and instructions when your contract is available in the grants portal. You must submit your completed contract packet, including signatures and other documentation as instructed, by the date indicated in the system. You must also complete all other assigned follow ups by the due date.

  Please note: Any significant revisions to grant-funded activities must be approved in writing, in advance, by the SCAC.

  Additional details about managing an SCAC grant are available on our agency website.

  Grant Payments

  Payments are reimbursement-based. This means any expenses must be financed up front by the grantee and/or a cooperating entity.

  An accurate pay request, listing only expenses allowable under the program guidelines for the certified time period, must be submitted in order to receive payment for the grant award.

  Grantees in this category are eligible for interim payments, with the final grant payment released upon receipt and approval of the grantee’s final report.

  Final Report

  ALL GRANTEES are required to file a final report at the end of the grant period. The final report due date is stated in the grant contract. Failure to submit an accurate and complete final report by the due date will result in cancellation of the award and repayment of any funds received. SCAC will not fund applicants who have outstanding final reports.

  This grant is awarded on a two-year cycle, but grantees are required to file a final report at the end of each annual grant period. Submission of your annual final report for year one of the two-year cycle will allow us to assess long-term progress and generate the next year’s contract.

I’m Here to Help!

• If you are seeking advisement, please contact K-12 Coordinator Amanda Noyes (803.734.8675 | anoyes@arts.sc.gov) before submitting an application.
• If you have submitted an application, and/or you have a current grant, please contact the Grants Team (803.734.8695 | grants@arts.sc.gov).

Grants Coaching

We also highly recommend a visit to our Grants Coaching webpage, for

• open coaching calls for artists,
• category-specific information for grant applicants,
• topic sessions, and
• opportunities for one-on-one assistance.

Missed a group call or session? Look for the video link to access a recording of that presentation.