LINCOLN – State elected and education officials announced Thursday a new multimillion-dollar initiative to strengthen arts education in Rhode Island’s public schools.
Gov. Daniel J. McKee, R.I. Education Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green and the R.I. Department of Education introduced a $5 million Art Reengages Talent in All Students, or ARTS, where each district and charter school system will get at least $10,000 through the program. State officials said the grants can be used to purchase items to help provide arts education, such as musical instruments, audiovisual or culinary equipment and to make upgrades to school auditoriums.
RIDE said $4.5 million for “Act I” of the ARTS initiative will be allocated from the state’s school building authority capital fund to local districts on a “per-student basis,” and funding is available through June 30, 2023. Act II, RIDE said, will follow later this summer.
The school districts that have received the most funding through this program are:
- Providence: $694,225
- Cranston: $328,840
- Warwick: $261,841
- Pawtucket: $260,527
- Woonsocket: $181,571
- East Providence: $161,984
- Cumberland: $151,437
“After more than two years of disruptions due to the pandemic, the ARTS Initiative is a fantastic opportunity to reengage students in the arts and strengthen their connection with their schools,” McKee said in a statement. “The arts have been proven to promote and improve mental health and increase academic performance. We not only look forward to the investments schools make, but the student engagement that makes them happen.”
The announcement took place at Lincoln High School.
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter at @James_Bessette.
