Paying for an electronics lab

Last checked September 23, 2026.

We are not grant advisers, and every district runs these programs its own way. Treat this as a map of who to ask, not a promise that any of it applies to you. Your district’s federal programs coordinator, CTE director or business office will know what is available this year.

Title IV, Part A (Student Support and Academic Enrichment)

Title IV-A is a flexible federal grant under ESSA that districts use for a well-rounded education (which includes STEM), safe and healthy schools, and the effective use of technology. Districts are still receiving allocations for the 2026-27 school year (for example, New York’s 2026-27 preliminary allocations). One rule to know: of the money a district spends under the effective use of technology heading, no more than 15 percent can go on devices, equipment and software (ESSA section 4109(b)). Texas Education Agency guidance explains it well. Program overview: US Department of Education.

Perkins V (career and technical education)

If your electronics or engineering course is part of an approved CTE program of study, Perkins V funds can pay for equipment and instructional materials that help students meet industry standards in that program. Perkins money supplements rather than replaces what the district already pays for, and each state sets its own local rules. Start with your CTE director. Overview: Perkins V at cte.ed.gov; an example of a state’s local-use guidance: Minnesota’s Perkins V local uses of funds.

E-rate does not cover this

E-rate pays for internet connectivity and the network inside the building: circuits, routers, switches, access points and cabling. It does not pay for content, end-user devices, or equipment that is not needed to carry the network (USAC eligible services overview). Kits, instruments and a simulator subscription are all outside it.

ESSER is over for new purchases

The pandemic relief funds had to be committed by September 30, 2024. Some states were given extra time to pay for things already committed, and those extensions have been ending (K-12 Dive on the late liquidation period). Do not plan a new purchase around ESSER.

DonorsChoose

Teachers at US public and public charter schools can post a classroom project and ask the public to fund it. Its catalog includes technology, STEM and robotics materials, and a standard project has a $100 minimum (DonorsChoose for teachers). It is well suited to the hardware half of a simulate-first plan: a few group kits and meters for the build weeks.

State and local money

• State CTE and STEM grants. Many state education departments run their own competitive grants for equipment. Your CTE director or state CTE office will know the current rounds.
• Your district or school education foundation, and your PTA or PTO.
• Local employers, utilities and engineering firms, many of which fund STEM classrooms in the communities they hire from.
• Community foundations and service clubs.

Check with your district before applying for outside money: some districts want grants to go through one office.

How the purchase itself works

• Hardware usually goes through the purchasing office on a purchase order, from an approved vendor if your district has a list. Ask whether education pricing applies; we have not assumed any.
• Software that students sign in to usually needs a student data privacy review first. Mokxi signs the SDPC National Data Privacy Agreement or your state’s version; what we store about a student is on the student data privacy page, and what IT needs to allow is on the IT setup page.
• Mokxi’s Teacher plan ($129 a year, 40 students) can be paid by card or on an invoice against a purchase order. A school or district plan is priced by written quote. The free plan needs no purchase at all.

A one-page budget justification

The lab cost calculator fills in a one-page justification from your numbers: what you are asking for, the three options side by side, the assumptions in plain view, and the price sources. Add your name and school, print it or save it as a PDF, and hand it to your principal. Nothing you type is sent anywhere.