Cannon County schools seek permission to pursue $75,000 Ford grant and $90,000-per-year literacy grant

District staff asked the Cannon County Board of Education for permission to apply for two competitive grants during the workshop Wednesday: a $75,000 Ford innovation/STEM grant and a Tennessee Department of Education literacy materials/support grant valued at $90,000 per year.

A staff member said the Ford-related application focuses on STEM and education-to-workforce pathways and includes a partnership element with SCORE that would provide quarterly support to teachers. The presenter said the Ford application had already been written and was due Friday; staff requested the board’s permission to submit it.

On the literacy grant, a staff member described the opportunity as $90,000 per year for up to five years (a potential total of $450,000 if continued annually). The presenter said approximately $80,000 of each year would support English Language Arts (ELA) support systems at the middle school, and roughly $10,000 per year would cover materials, travel and school visits. Staff said they had spoken with principals in other counties about program implementation and planned to use the funds for professional learning communities and ELA interventions.

Board members asked procedural questions about budget impacts and whether grant-funded positions or activities would require district funding in later years. The presenter said the literacy grant is an option to continue each year and that the district could choose whether to accept subsequent years’ awards.

No formal votes were recorded on either application in the workshop minutes. Staff indicated they had prepared both applications and sought the board’s permission to submit them for consideration.