Equity Grant Application, 2026-27

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Equity Grants for 2026-27 School Year

BEFORE YOU START

In alignment with our mission to champion equitable public education for students, families and our community, the Berkeley Public Schools Fund has designed our grants program to support educators in addressing equity change in BUSD.

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LOGISTICS AND REMINDERS

Application opens: Friday, January 16
Application deadline: Wednesday, March 25
Preliminary Notification to Applicants: Friday, May 29
Official Notification & Funds available: Wed, July 1

Save Your Work. When you begin the application, we recommend clicking the box above "Save my progress/resume later" so that the system starts saving your work. We also recommend that you click "Save my progress" at the bottom of each page, before continuing.

Formatting Limitations. The technology that supports this grant application does not accept formatting, even if pasted in from another document. This includes bullet points, bold/italics/underline, and hyperlinks. If you want to reference a web resource, please include the full url, rather than a hyperlink.

Word Limits. Be clear and concise when answering all the questions. Our open-ended questions have a word limit of 400 words but there is no need to use the full limit.

IMPORTANT. Once you submit your application, you should receive an email confirmation (though it may go into your Spam folder). If you do not, please contact our office ASAP (jisselpoblete@schoolsfund.berkeley.net) - your grant application may not have been submitted.

For Continuation Grant Applications: Work Smarter, not Harder!

If applying for a continued funds of a current project, be sure you are updating last year's information, noting any significant changes throughout. Continuation grants will be expected to articulate how you will build/maintain moving forward in a specific continuation question.

If you have questions about the scope of your project or anything application related, email Jissel Poblete: jisselpoblete@schoolsfund.berkeley.net . If you have budget-related questions, email Angie Won: angiewon@schoolsfund.berkeley.net.

Are you applying for a LEADING for Equity or LEARNING for Equity grant? LEARNING for Equity grants support collaborative, equity-explicit projects designed by a team of educators, usually (though not exclusively) from the same school.

LEADING for Equity grants are designed to support district-wide (or multi-school) collaborative, equity-explicit projects within the 6 priority areas described below.

*** Review the Equity Grant Guidelines ***

LEARNING for EquityLEADING for Equity

Is this a continuation of a project funded last year by the Schools Fund?

YesNo

What is your GRANT-ID number?
Check your email for your Grant-ID number. If you need assistance, email jisselpoblete@schoolsfund.berkeley.net or SKIP the question entirely.

PROJECT PROGRESS UPDATE

Returning Applicants: Please use this section to provide a mid-year progress report for your current 25-26 grant. Reviewers will be scoring not only your 26-27 application, but also how this year has gone - your successes and how you've adapted to challenges.
**If you've submitted a progress report in January, you may skip this step

***Progress & Celebrations: What's going well so far with regard to your Project Activities, Timeline, & Impact

***Challenges: What obstacles (expected or unexpected) are getting in your way?

*** Looking ahead to the rest of the school year, how do you expect this project to progress? Approximately how much of your total grant award do you anticipate spending by the end of the school year (e.g., all, most, about half)? What level of project completion do you expect to reach by that point?

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Your Project & Priority Area(s)

Project Title (80 characters)

Brief Project Summary (200 words)

To earn full consideration, please ensure your project fits within at least one of the Schools Fund's priority areas and has been designed with equity, systems change (at the schools or district level), and project learning in mind.

Priority Areas (pick the ONE or TWO categories that best match your proposal - use CTL-click or CMD-click to select additional areas)

Other Area (80 characters)

The Why and How

Problem Statement. Describe the specific problem or need your project seeks to address. Include who your focal population is. Then, describe the impact your project intends to have on your community.

If a continuation proposal, elaborate if and how you anticipate the problem and/or focal student population will change this year. (400 words max)

Approximately how many BUSD students will be directly impacted by this grant?

Enter a number, no text

Project Activities. Describe how you'll execute your project. Describe the chosen curriculum, content or program, and how its design reflects and responds to the needs of your focal audience.
If a continuation proposal, describe the main project activities that you hope to continue into '26-27. Also describe learnings from project activities that didn't go as planned.
.

(400 words max)

Timeline. Please include a month-by-month timeline of project implementation and evaluation activities below. Remember: this form does not support bullet point formatting. (400 words max)

Impact

The Berkeley Public Schools Fund relies on storytelling to raise community dollars in support of equity work across the district. Grant teams should consider the most effective ways to communicate the impact of your project. This visibility helps motivate community members to support our shared work.

Measuring Impact. What results are you committed to achieving during the school year? How will you know if you are successful in addressing your problem statement? (Consider survey data, personal anecdotes, attendance records, student data, etc.)

(400 words max)

Communicating Impact. How do you plan on sharing your work? What steps will you take along the way to ensure that key learnings are retained for future use and/or communicated to the community if appropriate? (400 words max)

Click "Save my progress/resume later," even if you want to keep working.

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COMMITTED TEAM - LEADING for EQUITY

LEADING for Equity grants are designed to be district-wide or multi-site.

The Schools Fund acknowledges that the growing of great ideas across sites, teams, and individuals is challenging work that requires willing partners, a detailed action plan, thoughtful communication systems, and time. The strongest proposals build these in from the start.

Who from the School Sites? How many (and which) BUSD schools/programs plan to be involved in this project? (400 words max)

Who from the District? Who from the district (or other centralized coordination body) will be supporting and/or coordinating this project?

(400 words max)

Structures/Systems to Support Collaboration. What structures (groups, standing meetings, committees) and systems (ie agendas, digital communications, meeting notes) will your team use to communicate, coordinate and collaborate between and across group members?

(400 words max)

Click "Save my progress/resume later," even if you want to keep working.

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COMMITTED TEAM - LEARNING for EQUITY

The Schools Fund aims to maximize positive and equity-driven change in schools and across the district. As such, LEARNING for Equity grants are designed to encourage collaboration through teams of educators working in service of equitable outcomes for BUSD students. Proposals from individual educators will not be accepted.

Using a simple phrase, describe the general educator team that your proposal represents. For example: 3rd grade team at Emerson, OFEE specialists @ BUSD, or Spanish teachers @ Berkeley High.

Is your principal aware of this project and are they on board?

They are aware and are on boardI haven't told them about this project yet, but don't anticipate any issuesI haven't told them yet and am not sure if they'll be on board

Describe what systems and structures (i.e. standing meetings, agendas, shared docs, assessments, etc.) your team has (or is planning to put) in place to communicate, collaborate & coordinate efforts and learning across the team for the duration of the project. (400 words max)

We strongly recommend clicking "Save my progress & resume later," even if you want to continue working.

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PROJECT BUDGET

BUDGET

Link Your Budget - Please build your budget in Google Sheets and link it here. (Ensure that you've adjusted permissions in Google Sheets so that "anyone with the link" may "view.") Most applicants use this Budget Example & Template. ***Be sure to update document permissions so that "anyone with the link" may "view."

Total Amount ($) Requested (no $-sign, commas or decimals)

LEARNING proposals can request a max of $10k. LEADING proposals can request a max of $15k

Budget Narrative: Please explain what in your budget is "essential" versus what is "nice to have" without compromising your project.(400 word max)

Would grant funds pay for BUSD staff time?

Yes, grant funds would pay for certificated staff time onlyYes, grant funds would pay for classified staff time onlyYes, grant funds would pay for BOTH certificated & classified staff timeNo, grant funds won't cover staff time; just other expenses

Would grant funds pay for Consultants/Contractors from outside of BUSD?

YesNo

Final Matching: Did you double check that the Total Amount Requested matches your Budget's Grand Total?

Yes, I've double checked and both numbers match!

Budget Permissions: Did you adjust permissions on your Budget Google Sheet so that "anyone with the link" may "view?" (Grant reviewers without @berkeley.net emails will be viewing your budget.)

Yes, Google Sheet permissions have been adjusted accordingly!

OPTIONAL - upload one or more files to provide additional information about your project.

You're done! Thank you!

ALL District Preschools	ALL District Elementary Schools	ALL District Middle Schools	ALL District High Schools
Franklin Preschool	Hopkins Preschool	King CDC	Berkeley Arts Magnet
Cragmont Elementary	Emerson Elementary	John Muir Elementary	Malcolm X Elementary
Oxford Elementary	Rosa Parks Elementary	Ruth Acty	Sylvia Mendez Elementary
Thousand Oaks Elementary	Washington Elementary	Longfellow Middle	King Middle
Willard Middle	Berkeley High	BTA	Independent Study
Herrick Hospital	ALL SCHOOLS Districtwide