The Fort Bend Education Foundation awarded $98,000 worth of grant money early October to six Fort Bend ISD schools: Willowridge High School, Juan Seguin, Austin Parkway, Goodman, Lakeview, and James Patterson elementary schools.

The money will help more than 190 teachers replace teaching materials damaged by Hurricane Harvey or mold at Willowridge High School, said Brenna Cosby, the foundation’s executive director.

The majority of the money, approximately $90,000, was given to teachers at Willowridge High School and Juan Seguin, according to a Fort Bend ISD press release. Another $5,000 is earmarked to build a temporary library for Juan Seguin students who have been placed in David Crockett Middle School while their school undergoes flood repairs.

“This is not a grant we would normally fund,” Cosby said. “It was an emergency need, and we wanted to help those teachers because when you’re displaced from your classroom and you don’t have anything, you have to start over.”

Teachers will receive gift cards to Teacher Heaven, an educator supply store, to replace items they’ve lost, Cosby said. These teachers had reported the lost and damaged items in their classrooms to the principals who, in turn, identified the need for the foundation, she said.

“We reached out to all the principals to ask what teachers lost within their room,” Cosby said. “Our mission is to enrich and enhance the quality of education for all students in Fort Bend ISD through our grants to teachers programs.”

Community members have donated $11,640 out of the $98,000, but the foundation is still receiving donations, Cosby said. Money provided by the Fort Bend Education Foundation was raised through campaign drives, fundraisers, business sponsorships and partnerships, donations, and outside grants from private foundations, she said.