Quick look: Applications are now open for the second round of OCDE’s Innovation Funding Initiative, which will provide six Orange County school districts with up to $525,000 each to test, refine and scale forward-thinking approaches designed to improve student outcomes.
OCDE has officially opened the second round of its Innovation Funding Initiative, inviting eligible school districts to apply for up to $525,000 to develop and test promising ideas with the potential to improve outcomes for students.
Applications will be accepted starting today, Oct. 7, and continuing through Dec. 4, 2026. After that, six new Orange County school districts will be selected, with award recipients expected to be announced around early February. Funded projects will run for three years, from July 2027 through June 2030.
The initiative supports OCDE’s broader focus on advancing innovation, one of five key initiatives in County Superintendent of Schools Dr. Stefan Bean’s 5-3-1 Strategic Plan. It’s specifically designed to give districts the resources and support to test, refine and scale forward-thinking approaches that respond to unmet educational needs.
“Innovation starts with educators seeing a need and believing there may be a better way to meet it,” Bean said. “This initiative gives districts the opportunity to put promising ideas into practice, learn from the results and build approaches that can make a lasting difference for students — not only in one community, but potentially across Orange County.”
Building on the first cohort
This second round builds on the initiative’s inaugural cohort, which was announced earlier this year and included six funded districts.
Those projects range from collaborative math learning labs and student-built tiny homes for families experiencing homelessness to expanded International Baccalaureate and career pathways, new approaches to teacher development and strategies to strengthen student engagement and school climate.
Officials said interest in the first round was strong, with OCDE receiving 29 applications from 22 Orange County school districts.
The second round is similarly open to Orange County school districts serving students in grades TK-12, with eligible districts able to submit up to two applications. However, districts that received funding in the first cohort are not eligible to apply this round.
Charter schools, districts outside Orange County, private schools, colleges and universities, nonprofit or community-based organizations and non-educational agencies are also not eligible.
More than just funding
Beyond the financial support, the selected districts will receive coaching, technical assistance, and research and evaluation support to strengthen implementation, measure impact and learn from the work. OCDE will also examine whether successful approaches can be sustained, scaled or adapted in other settings.
Moreover, participating districts will have opportunities to connect and learn from one another through an Innovation Learning Community and annual Innovation Summit, where educators can share lessons, promising practices and early findings with colleagues across Orange County.
“What makes this initiative exciting is that it is about more than funding a project,” said Dr. Janel Alberts, OCDE’s manager of Grants and Funding. “We are working alongside districts as they move from an idea to implementation, helping them study what is working, make adjustments along the way and capture lessons that can benefit other educators and students.”
Prospective applicants can now access the Request for Applications, application materials, eligibility requirements, timelines and additional resources at ocde.us/InnovationFunding.
Additional updates on Cohort 2 will be shared here on the OCDE Newsroom as the application process moves forward.