Eight K-12 public schools in Delaware County, Ind., will share $182,000 in grants from the K-12 School Technology Resilience Initiative. The goal of the initiative is to support “longer-term and equitable solutions for technology resilience for students and schools.”
“The need for equitable technology solutions was exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic,” said Bryan Rausch, superintendent of Liberty-Perry Community Schools. “Funding through the K-12 School Technology Resilience Initiative has helped us quickly close technology-related gaps and ensure that our students and community can continue learning whether in the classroom or while at home.”
This round of grants is the third phase of funding for the initiative, which kicked off in June of 2020. The initial round of funding – which was $8,000 for each school – was designated to help schools with research and planning efforts.
After the June funding, school systems were able to submit plans to address their specific needs, with an emphasis on helping students and teachers access and utilize technology. School systems were able to request equipment, connectivity, software, and people resources. Based on their requests, schools were awarded a second round of funding – which was between $5,000 and $8,000 per school – in August.
For the third round of funding, school systems were asked to provide any updates to their needs. In terms of dollar amounts for each school, there was a wide range in grant funding. Schools received between $10,000 and $37,000, depending on their needs.
Schools across Delaware County received funding for connectivity; hardware for teachers and students; support for teacher training; recording equipment; curriculum subscriptions; people resources for homework help; hotspots for student connectivity; and curation of virtual curriculum.
