The Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians Foundation is accepting grant applications for its Technology in Schools Program, which supports Santa Barbara County schools seeking funds to bolster classroom technology for their students.
The program allows Santa Barbara County school administrators and faculty to apply for technology grant dollars to fund specific projects. The grants allow schools to purchase hardware, upgrade infrastructure, add high-tech resources and boost their curriculum.
Deadline to apply for the 2025-26 school year is April 30. All applications must be submitted online at www.chumash.gov/foundation. For more information, call 805-688-7997.
Since its inception in 2015, the tribe’s Technology in Schools Program has issued more than $550,000 in grants to area schools. The most recent 2024-25 school year grant recipients were:
Vista Del Mar Union School District, Gaviota, received $8,255 to upgrade its Chromebooks and uninterruptible power supply; College School District, $9,173 to buy a 3D printer and an interactive whiteboard; Los Olivos Elementary School, $10,136 for MacBooks and AppleCare.
Also, Santa Barbara Unified School District, $10,000 to buy three digital projectors; La Colina Junior High, $8,500 to buy and install Promethean interactive display boards; Orcutt Academy High School, $3,000 for library equipment, including a Paragon Chargebar Table, adjustable stools and portable charging stations.
Saint Louis de Montfort Catholic School, Santa Maria, $9,500 for new laptops and TI-84 graphing calculators; San Marcos High, $5,500 for two Cannon EOS R6 digital cameras, 15 SD cards and an iPad Pro.
Lakeview Junior High, $8,598 to buy Lego Education Spike Prime Set robotics kits; and Santa Ynez Valley Union High School, $7,000 to fund new hardware, software, accessories, and travel expenses to support the launch of its new Esports league.
In 2015, the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians donated the proceeds from its annual charity golf tournament to four local schools in the form of technology grants.
Inspired by the success of those grants, the tribe’s leadership created the Technology in Schools Program through its foundation to help fulfill the high-tech needs of classrooms in Santa Barbara County.
The Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians has donated more than $30 million to hundreds of groups, organizations and schools in the community and across the nation as part of the tribe’s long-standing tradition of giving.