Over 70 Idaho rural public schools, school districts and charter schools, including Cottonwood Jt. School District #242, are receiving funding to improve arts programs for their students under Governor Brad Little’s Expanding Arts Access in Rural Public Schools program.
The program makes $1 million in grant funds available annually for rural schools, districts and charters to apply for. The grants were awarded based on recommendations made by an advisory panel of arts teachers and college professors who reviewed the submitted grants.
Of the rural schools, districts and charters that submitted grant applications, 19 received an Expanding Arts Access in Rural Public Schools grant for the first time. The grants range from $15,000 to just under $2,000.
Shane Chapman, art instructor at Cottonwood School District applied for and received a grant worth $14,931.40.
Launched in 2022, the Expanding program is administered by the Idaho State Board of Education and the Idaho Commission on the Arts and is funded by a $1 million appropriation approved by the Legislature.