Opportunity Overview
The Texas Education Agency (TEA) 2026-27 Rural & Low-Income School Program (RLIS), Title V, Part B, Subpart 2 of the Every Student Succeeds Act, is a formula funding pathway for eligible rural, low-income local educational agencies. TEA’s current Grant Opportunities system now lists the 2026-27 RLIS application as available September 15, 2026 and due November 16, 2026, with submission through eGrants.
Who the Program Serves
RLIS is designed for rural school districts that face limited personnel and grant-development capacity and serve concentrations of children from low-income families. Eligibility is determined annually under federal statute and TEA procedures. The U.S. Department of Education currently describes RLIS eligibility as requiring at least 20% of children ages 5-17 served by the LEA to be from families below the poverty line and the LEA to meet the applicable rural-location criteria. Texas districts should confirm their current eligibility and entitlement directly through TEA before budgeting.
Funding Structure
This is a formula grant, not a statewide competition with one universal award ceiling. TEA calculates district entitlements under the federal allocation structure. TEA’s FY2027 Entitlements and Allocations Dashboard now publishes the 2026-27 RLIS Planning Amounts workbook; use the current district-specific planning amount and monitor TEA for later final updates.
Allowable-Use Strategy
Federal RLIS funds may support activities authorized under Titles I through IV of the ESEA, as well as parental and family engagement. That flexibility can include qualifying Title IV, Part A activities focused on safe and healthy students and effective use of technology. U.S. Department of Education guidance identifies examples such as school-based mental-health supports, bullying and violence prevention, healthy-lifestyle programming, community partnerships, and technology that improves learning access and capacity.
Important: RLIS does not create blanket permission for any health, telehealth, or device purchase. Each proposed expenditure must fit an authorized activity, be reasonable and necessary, satisfy federal cost principles and supplement-not-supplant requirements, and comply with TEA’s current application and program-specific rules.
Healthcare and School-Health Relevance
For Atlas users, RLIS is important because eligible rural districts can potentially use Title IV-authorized activities to strengthen student-support systems, school-based mental-health programming, safe-and-healthy-student initiatives, and technology-enabled access. A district considering a healthcare-related use should tie the expenditure to a documented student need and the exact authorized activity rather than treating RLIS as a general clinical-equipment grant.
Atlas Analysis
Atlas Opportunity Score: 89/100. The combination of formula access, rural focus, flexible authorized uses, and a defined fall application window makes RLIS a meaningful school-funding lane for eligible Texas districts.
N9+ Direct Vendor Fit: 15/100 conditional. The program can support authorized Title IV activities and technology, but neither TEA nor the federal RLIS program establishes a specific connected physical-exam device or telehealth-equipment pathway. N9+ should be considered only if TEA’s current rules and the district’s approved program design clearly make the cost allowable and necessary. QC Healthcare Fit: 0/100 at the program level because the verified sources do not establish an outsourced physician-coverage pathway.
Next Action
Eligible rural districts should use TEA’s current FY2027 Title V, Part B RLIS Planning Amounts workbook to confirm eligible LEA status and district planning entitlement, follow the current designation, certification, and submission steps shown in the live eGrants application, identify the authorized Title I-IV activity that best matches the documented need, reconcile the live 2026-27 application instructions, and submit the required materials by November 16, 2026. TEA’s public Grant Opportunities listing does not state a closing clock time, so applicants should follow the live eGrants controls and submit early rather than infer one.
Official program source: Texas Education Agency — Title V, Part B Rural Education Initiative / REAP.
Federal program source: U.S. Department of Education — Rural and Low-Income School Program.
TEA 2026-27 federal grant dates: Texas Education Agency — 2026-2027 Federal Grants Important Dates.
Current RLIS planning amounts: Texas Education Agency — FY2027 Entitlements and Allocations Dashboard (Title V, Part B RLIS 2026-27 Planning Amounts workbook).