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California K-8 schools earn $300,000 in grants to help increase access to college and careers 

At a press conference in Sacramento on April 24, State Treasurer John Chiang and the ScholarShare Scholar Dollars program announced the winners of 20 grants of up to $25,000 for K-8 public and charter schools statewide.

ScholarShare, California’s official 529 college saving plan, started the Scholar Dollars program to highlight the importance of saving early for higher education and to help schools pay for educational equipment and programs that lead children to college and career success.

“We recognize that families, faculties and administrators spend a lot of time fundraising for all these activities that fall outside of core curriculum,” said Julio Martinez, executive director of the ScholarShare Investment Board. “There’s always this unmet need, so [ScholarShare] offers grants to help [schools] fund some of these innovative programs that go underfunded or unfunded.”

All of California’s K-8 public and charter schools were eligible for Scholar Dollar grants and submitted applications in February. The winning schools were chosen according to which schools garnered the most online votes in categories determined by school size. More than 411,000 votes were cast statewide for nearly 400 schools.

In total, $300,000 was awarded to 20 schools in increments based on school size, ranging from $5,000 to $25,000.

This year’s winning schools are located in 14 different California cities: Burbank, Camarillo, Campbell, Carson, Castro Valley, Los Angeles, Northridge, Oakland, Sacramento, Santa Ana, South Gate, Visalia, Westminster and Windsor.

Schools plan to allocate these grants to a variety of educational opportunities such as afterschool programs, athletic facility upgrades, science lab equipment, math intervention tutoring, arts integration programs and more.

"Providing opportunities for a more well-rounded education is exactly why [the State Treasurer's] office created the Scholar Dollars program," explained Chiang to a group of elementary school students and stakeholders in Sacramento. "Education is not a luxury; it is a necessity."

The Scholar Dollars program was created to better prepare students for college and career readiness.

“When you do arts and music, that makes you more likely to go to college and to graduate from high school and to go get a good job,” Jay Hansen, President of the Sacramento City Unified School District, told William Land Elementary School students, winners of a $10,000 grant.

Through a 529 college savings plan, ScholarShare offers all California families the ability to start saving for college tax free. The Scholar Dollars program contributes to ScholarShare’s mission by supporting innovative instruction that ensures students graduate high school college and career ready.

In addition to this week’s event in Sacramento, the Scholar Dollars program will be holding events in Los Angeles, Orange County and the Bay Area over the next few weeks to congratulate the winning schools.

CSBA is proud to partner with the Scholar Dollars grant program to help support funding for college and career readiness in California’s K-8 public schools. School board members are encouraged to participate in the nomination process next year.

Full List of Scholar Dollar Grant Winners

For a more detailed list of how each winning school will be allocating grant money, visit http://www.myscholardollars.com/.