Opportunity Overview
The California Department of Education (CDE) is administering the California Serves Grant Program 2026–27 to expand access to effective service learning for grade twelve students and support pathways to the State Seal of Civic Engagement.
Funding
CDE lists $5,000,000 in total available funding. Eligible local educational agencies may request up to $500,000 per participating LEA. CDE identifies no match requirement.
Eligibility
Eligible applicants are California local educational agencies that serve grade twelve pupils, offer or are working to offer the State Seal of Civic Engagement locally, and have at least 55 percent unduplicated pupils as defined in the cited California Education Code provisions. CDE gives positive consideration to high quality service learning programs supporting statewide SSCE criteria and to applicants that have not received prior California Serves funding.
Important participation gate: CDE required every applicant to submit a Notice of Intent to Apply by September 8, 2026 at 4:00 p.m. That date has passed. Atlas therefore treats the remaining application period as actionable only for LEAs that timely submitted the required Notice of Intent. No new cold applicant outreach should begin for previously unsent LEAs without verified evidence that this prerequisite was met.
Deadline and Time Zone
Complete applications are due October 5, 2026 at 4:00 p.m. The controlling CDE materials reviewed by Atlas publish the date and clock time but do not state a time zone. Atlas will not infer one. Under current Atlas outreach rules, this prevents creation of new applicant outreach queue records until the deadline time zone is authoritatively verified.
Eligible Activities
CDE identifies eligible uses including paid teacher planning time to expand service learning, professional development for administrators and teachers, instructional materials, participation costs and related travel for service learning, personnel costs for program coordination, and participation costs associated with grant evaluation.
Required Application Materials and Submission
CDE publishes the controlling Request for Applications, a fillable Budget workbook, the California Serves Grant Online Application, and General Assurances and Certifications. The assurances must be kept on file as a condition of receiving funds, although CDE states they do not need to be signed and returned with the application. Applicants must follow the current RFA and online application instructions and submit all required components by the deadline.
Errata and Amendment Control
CDE has published an official errata for the 2026–27 RFA. The errata changes the Appendix A evaluation rubric from 84 to 88 total points and changes Section B, Theory of Action, from 12 to 16 points. Applicants should use the corrected scoring rubric.
Atlas Fit Analysis
Atlas Opportunity Score: 74/100. This is a legitimate, substantial California school funding opportunity with a clear state administrator and meaningful awards, but the remaining applicant universe is restricted to LEAs that already satisfied the September 8 Notice of Intent prerequisite.
N9+ Fit Score: 0/100. Atlas does not force a device fit. The published purpose and eligible uses concern service learning, civic engagement, instructional materials, professional development, program coordination, participation costs, and evaluation. The reviewed controlling materials do not establish a legitimate role for the Nonagon N9+ device and platform or QC Healthcare.
Current Atlas Action
Publish for qualified prior Notice of Intent filers and monitor CDE for amendments or authoritative clarification of the application deadline time zone. Do not create new applicant outreach solely from this listing without verifying both the timely Notice of Intent and the exact deadline time zone.
Program contact: Sarah Smith, SSCE@cde.ca.gov. Fiscal contact: Delaina Henson, SSCE@cde.ca.gov.
Controlling sources: CDE 2026–27 California Serves RFA page; CDE Funding Profile; CDE RFA Errata.