This week we look at the role of pilot programs in school districts across the country, revisit our California and Texas market penetration comparisons, provide examples of open state grants from a variety of categories, and review some recently issued RFPs. More below.
1. Pilot programs in K–12 education are limited-scale implementations that allow districts to test new tools, curricula, or approaches before expanding systemwide. As districts face tighter budgets and a growing need to demonstrate measurable outcomes, these pilots provide a structured way to evaluate effectiveness and guide future investments. This week we use our Signals Tracker to provide some examples of pilot programs discussed in recent board meetings. First, some examples from pilot programs from outside the classroom:
- Pawtucket School Department, RI, is piloting a vape detection system at Goff Middle School.
- Val Verde Unified School District, CA, is running a chronic absenteeism pilot program with the goal of moving from the district's current "very high" band to "high."
- Flagstaff Unified School District, AZ, has begun a pilot program with a local community college for school students who need additional help in pursuing higher education.
- Northampton County Schools, NC, has approved a pilot program with two local health organizations to 'enhance student health support services.'
- Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD, TX, is running a teacher attendance incentive pilot this year, featuring a monthly monetary incentive for teachers with perfect attendance.
- Lincoln Public Schools, NE, is running a pilot program with its staff benefits provider that allows enrollees to customize a wellness plan and track progress while earning financial awards.
Further below, we provide examples of pilot programs involving services inside the classroom.
2. Burbio maintains a database of district checkbook registers covering over 20 million PreK-12 students and this week we continue our look at market penetration of select large vendors in California and Texas. The charts below show the percentage of districts in each state that have written a check to the supplier in question at least once in the last twelve months. Our first chart shows suppliers with a higher market penetration in California:
Our second chart shows a second selection of suppliers with higher market penetration in Texas:
3. Burbio's State-Level Funding Tracker features continuously updated, state-specific grants for PreK-12 schools, with over 2,000 grants covering over $40 billion in spending. As grants are announced, clients are alerted and can reach out to eligible districts to inform them about the grant and offer assistance before the application process. The period from mid-Fall to early the following calendar year represents the high season in open grants. Here are just a few of the many in our database:
- Delaware's Bridge to Practice Grant is an early-literacy grant covering instructional materials, professional learning, and staffing.
- Kentucky's CTE Innovation and Support Grant is targeted to K-12 districts offering new CTE programs.
- In New Jersey, the ongoing School-Based Mental Health Grant supports districts in recruiting and retaining mental-health staff.
- In Minnesota, the Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) STEM Grant is targeted to K-12 students in historically underserved student groups.
- Michigan's Visual Arts and Music Grant is for students in grades K-5 and targeted to districts that don't have high-quality visual arts or music programs.
- In Maryland, the Decarbonizing Public Schools Program is designed to allow districts to advance strategies for developing clean and efficient energy use.
4. Continuing the pilot program theme featured above, here are some examples of pilot programs inside the classroom:
- Waltham Public Schools, MA, will be piloting an elementary math program and a middle school science program in the coming year.
- CCSD 181, Hinsdale, IL, gave an update on their elementary ELA pilot occurring this year, which involves the transition from balanced literacy to structured literacy.
- Liberty Public School District 53, MO, is conducting a pilot program with a math tutoring program through the period ending December 31st, 2026.
- Lower Dauphin School District, PA, is running a STEM pilot program in two of its elementary schools.
- Pueblo County School District 70, CO, is exploring a new math curriculum for the elementary schools, and is gathering feedback from teachers and the community in advance of picking programs to pilot.
5. Burbio now bundles RFPs into our PreK-12 Intelligence Hub with datasets of state grants, school board meeting minutes, strategic plans, bonds, superintendent turnover, and more. RFPs are presented in a sortable dashboard by category and are updated daily. Below is a selection that appeared in the last week:
- The Hawaii State Department of Education is looking for a provider of Mental Health TeleTherapy Services through a Referral Management System of Care.
- Marietta City Schools, GA, is looking for District K-12 Math Curriculum.
- Davis School District, UT, is sourcing an International Baccalaureate solution.
- Millard Public Schools, NE, is taking bids on a secure vestibule for an elementary school.
- Rutherford County Schools, TN, is looking for Fire Science Class Equipment.