Rural school districts are one of the beneficiaries of Idaho’s booming economy. The state has set aside $1 million of its surplus to help small districts expand their arts offerings.
For schools that run on lean budgets, this is money from heaven, said Michael Faison, the state arts commission’s executive director.
“They understand the importance of arts in the curriculum for their students, music, art, theater, dance. They understand this, but they just don’t have the tax base," he said.
The commission is offering up to $15,000 to rural districts that want to buy arts-related equipment, such as kilns, printing presses and digital cameras.
The application deadline is Sunday, April 17. Faison says almost half of Idaho’s 117 districts have already submitted applications.
“They’re so used to working with so little, I’m sure that they were probably doing a Snoopy dance. I sure was when I heard the word about this," he said.
Faison says the applications will be reviewed by in late April by a panel of arts-related people. Its recommendations will go to the state Board of Education in May. The winning districts, as many as 60 or 70 of them, will be notified in June so they can begin buying equipment to use next fall.
