By Photo: Monica Melton / Unsplash
By Lily Lederman | The Now Daily
Texas schools and community organizations are preparing for a new round of funding aimed at expanding after-school learning, academic support and enrichment opportunities for students across the state.
The Texas Education Agency says approximately $52 million is expected to be available through the next cycle of the Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant program, known in Texas as Texas ACE.
The funding period is scheduled to begin Sept. 1, 2026, and could support approximately 40 grants across the state. Individual awards are expected to range from $150,000 to $2 million per year.
Texas ACE Provides Learning Beyond the School Day
Texas ACE, or Afterschool Centers on Education, is designed to provide students with additional educational opportunities outside normal classroom hours.
Programs can offer academic assistance along with enrichment activities that may not always fit into the regular school day.
The broader federal 21st Century Community Learning Centers program is particularly focused on students and communities where additional academic resources can make a difference.
Rather than simply extending the regular school day, participating programs can combine academic support with other activities intended to keep students engaged and provide families with additional educational resources.
Approximately $52 Million Could Be Available
TEA expects approximately $52 million to be available for the first year of the new grant cycle.
The agency anticipates awarding approximately 40 grants.
Individual awards are expected to range from $150,000 to $2 million each year, depending on the approved program and funding available.
The project period is planned to run for five years, from Sept. 1, 2026, through Aug. 31, 2031.
However, funding after the first year is not automatic. TEA says continuation funding depends on factors including satisfactory progress, compliance with program requirements, achievement of performance targets, budget approval and continued federal appropriations.
Schools Aren’t the Only Organizations Eligible
The program is not limited to traditional public school districts.
Eligible applicants include local educational agencies, regional education service centers, community-based organizations and other qualifying public or private entities.
Faith-based organizations can also qualify as community-based organizations under the grant’s eligibility requirements.
Consortiums consisting of two or more eligible organizations can apply as well.
That structure allows schools to potentially work with outside organizations to provide programs and services to students.
For Texas communities, those partnerships can be especially useful when organizations already have facilities, staff or programs serving children outside regular school hours.
After-School Programs Can Provide Academic Support
One of the central purposes of the program is providing students with additional opportunities to improve academically.
Students who struggle with reading, mathematics or other subjects do not always have enough time during a regular class period to receive extensive individualized help.
After-school programs can provide another opportunity for tutoring, intervention and academic enrichment.
They can also create additional time for activities that combine learning with hands-on experiences.
Exactly what each Texas ACE location offers varies based on the individual program.
The goal is not for every center to operate identically, but for funded organizations to develop services that address the needs of the students and families they serve.
Texas Is Also Expanding Reading and Math Intervention Training
The after-school funding arrives as Texas implements additional programs focused on students who need academic intervention.
Under House Bill 2, Texas created new Intervention Academies designed to train educators working with kindergarten through eighth-grade students who need additional support in mathematics and reading.
The pilot program provides specialized professional development for teachers, interventionists, instructional coaches, educational aides and administrators.
Training focuses on foundational skills, small-group instruction, data-informed intervention and strategies for students requiring more intensive academic support.
TEA says participation in the pilot year is free.
Free Reading Assessment Tools Continue This School Year
Texas is also continuing to provide several early-literacy assessment tools to school systems at no cost during the 2026–27 school year.
For kindergarten students, commissioner-approved options include Circle Kindergarten Progress Monitoring and mCLASS Texas.
For first- and second-grade students, free options include TPRI/Tejas LEE and mCLASS Texas, although districts may select qualifying alternatives under state guidelines.
These assessments are intended to help educators identify reading development and determine where students may require additional instruction.
Texas also requires universal dyslexia screening in kindergarten and first grade.
Instructional Materials Funding Is Changing Too
Schools are entering the new year with additional state funding mechanisms for instructional materials.
Texas provides an annual entitlement of up to $40 per enrolled student for instructional materials approved by the State Board of Education.
An additional entitlement of up to $20 per student is available for qualifying state-developed open educational resources, including approved Bluebonnet Learning materials.
Unlike the broader instructional-material entitlement, unused state-developed OER entitlement money does not carry forward into the next fiscal year.
TEA says the 2026–27 entitlements are expected to become available to school systems in September.
Growing Districts Can Face Different Challenges
Texas’ continued population growth means some school districts face particularly significant increases in enrollment.
Rapid enrollment growth can create demand for additional teachers, classrooms, instructional materials and technology.
Texas provides a High-Enrollment Growth adjustment that can supply additional instructional-material and technology funding to qualifying districts and open-enrollment charter schools experiencing significant increases in student enrollment.
TEA made additional 2025–26 funding available to qualifying school systems earlier this year.
The needs of those districts can look very different from communities experiencing flat or declining enrollment.
Federal Funding Remains Important
Although Texas administers the ACE program, the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program is federally funded.
That creates an important qualification around the $52 million figure.
TEA’s grant notice says the projected federal budget supporting the first year is not yet known. If Congress does not provide the necessary federal appropriations, the cycle will not be funded and awards will not be issued.
That means the approximately $52 million represents anticipated funding, rather than money Texas can guarantee regardless of federal action.
That distinction is important for schools and organizations planning around potential awards.
What Happens Next
The initial grant period is scheduled to begin Sept. 1 and run through Aug. 31, 2027.
Organizations receiving awards could then continue participating through 2031 if they satisfy program requirements and continued funding remains available.
For students, the ultimate impact will depend on which programs receive grants, where centers operate and what services those organizations provide.
Combined with new intervention training and instructional-material funding, the program represents another part of Texas’ broader effort to provide academic support beyond traditional classroom instruction.
The Now Daily will continue following Texas education funding and programs affecting students, teachers and school districts throughout the 2026–27 school year.
Sources Consulted
- Texas Education Agency — Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers, Cycle 13
- Texas Education Agency — Intervention Academies
- Texas Education Agency — Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Instruments
- Texas Education Agency — Instructional Materials Entitlements
- Texas Education Agency — High-Enrollment Growth Adjustments