Bridgette Wells, a contract grant‑writing consultant working with Wiseburn Unified, told the board the district has submitted eight grant applications since January, won four awards totaling just under $40,000 and has roughly $600,000 in pending requests, including a $500,000 federal proposal for school safety upgrades.

Wells said she was hired in January for a six‑month term to build Wiseburn’s grant capacity, map district priorities to funder opportunities and produce reusable program descriptions and budgets. “All of these we fulfilled and a couple of these we exceeded,” she said of the contract goals.

Why it matters: grants are a common way school districts supplement restricted and discretionary revenue to fund arts, STEM, career‑connected learning and safety improvements without increasing local taxes.

Wins, pendings and program focus

Wells said the district secured three Project Lead The Way (PLTW) awards — one for each elementary school — to support Project Lead The Way training and participation, and won an Arts Advancement grant from the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture focused on musical theater programming. She said the combined awards to date total just shy of $40,000.

Pending applications include a California Department of Education (CDE) media/CTE pipeline application that Wells said could bring about $75,000 for the middle school, and a request to Digital Promise that would provide membership and potential future opportunities. Most recently, Wells said, the district submitted a $500,000 request to the U.S. Department of Justice for “the build out of a 100 new security cameras across the district, including in the sports complex, and…upgrading the door access controls” at campuses; if funded, Wells said the request would also support access‑control upgrades and door hardware.

Wells described the grant work as both external (researching funders) and internal (creating program narratives, budgets, metrics, and a handoff process for implementation and stewardship). She said the district submitted eight applications during the contract term, has four pending and has already won four. “So far, we’ve gotten all of the awards we’ve gotten feedback on,” she told the board.

Board reaction and next steps

Boardmember Rebecca offered to assist with foundation outreach, noting local philanthropic relationships: “If there’s anything that is there… I’m happy to do that,” she said. Board members discussed coordination with existing consultants who pursue state matching funds, and Wells said she would coordinate to avoid duplicative effort and to share research and materials across teams.

Wells said she had been offered an extension for another six months to build district capacity and pursue larger awards, and recommended continued training for district and Wiseburn Education Foundation staff on grant processes and grant management.

Ending

District and foundation leaders will decide whether to extend the consulting contract and to begin implementation work if pending grants are awarded; Wells recommended continued data standardization and program materials to increase the district’s competitiveness for larger, multi‑year awards.