ACCESS PTA intends to distribute grant awards this school year across multiple programs, including Student, Staff, and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Grants. Grant applications are able to be submitted any time in the school year until April 15, 2026. Please e-mail your grant application (see form below) as an attachment, scan or picture of your request form to treasurer@accessacademypta.org.
How does this process work?
Proposals will be reviewed monthly at executive board meetings (every second Wednesday) and voted on at general PTA meetings (every third Thursday). The funding proposal committee (a group of the PTA board members) will review proposals looking at: Is this project feasible? Does it match our priority areas? Is it a reasonable amount of money based on how many students it will reach? Does the proposal have proper research on cost and time needed? Part of this recommendation will include what fits into the amount of money the PTA has available to spend. If your program runs multiple quarters please submit your year long plan to be sure we have enough funds for the school year.
After committee review, all funding proposals will be presented at the next PTA general meeting, along with the recommendation of yes/no vote from the committee. PTA members will then vote on which proposals to accept.
Once a proposal is accepted, those who submitted the proposal will be notified. The PTA can pay vendors directly with appropriate invoices or the grantee can be reimbursed for their expenses with proper documentation using a Reimbursement Request Form.
Proposals may request funding for projects, activities, field trips, books, equipment or anything else that enhances the school experience for the ACCESS Academy community. We encourage proposals that offer school-wide opportunities to students as well as proposals that will benefit individual classrooms or grade levels.
Guidelines for funding proposals
- Purpose: Does this proposal fall within the mission of the PTA? The mission of the PTA is “to make every child’s potential a reality by engaging and empowering families and communities to advocate for all children. ACCESS PTA’s goal is to provide a vibrant and positive learning environment and support the school, students, staff, and caregivers. We rely on our volunteers to engage the community, to fundraise, and to help provide the support for students to excel.”
- Cost: Is this proposal within the budget given the limited amount of funds available for grants?
- Impact: Number of students and/or families that this proposal will reach. Is this impact significant or long-lasting?
- Feasibility: Does this proposal have a clear plan of action, including a cost estimate and a plan for completion (e.g. who will see the project through, who is responsible for what portions of the plan).
- Alternative funding: Are there other sources of funding for this project? The Grant Review Committee will reach out if it determines a more appropriate budgetary line item exists.
- Please note that these grant funds are different from the $500 per staff allotment for classroom resources. If a teacher/staff submits a grant request that is within the remaining teacher allotment, they may be asked to first spend the teacher allotment.
- School assemblies and parent education speakers have their own line items in the budget and thus will not be considered for grants.
- Examples of proposals
- Supplies or registration fees for community building events
- Gardening tools
- Books for a targeted curriculum
- Recess equipment
- Student clubs
- Support for PTA-sponsored Parent-led after-school-clubs (those w/ofees)
- Calculators
