Three Local School Districts to Receive Grant Monies for Internet Infrastructure

Franklin, Banks, and Stephens County school systems are among 102 school districts who will be receiving part of a $14.8 million dollar bond issue to improve their schools’ Internet infrastructure.

On Monday, the State Board of Education voted to contribute the monies as part of a larger effort to ensure all classrooms have the high-speed broadband access required for digital and blended learning.

One state charter school and 102 districts received a total of more than $36.7 million in grants from Connections for Classrooms, a collaborative funding effort between the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE), the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement (GOSA), and the One Georgia Authority (OGA).

Of the three counties in Northeast Georgia, Franklin County will receive the least amount – getting $12,610 in grant monies, Banks County is getting the largest of the three in grants – $392,819, and Stephens County will receive $231,021.

State Superintendent Dr. John Barge said Monday as technology advances, educators have an unprecedented opportunity to provide personalized learning to every student.

Franklin County is already moving in that direction at the high school.

The new high school core building opened its doors for the first time this fall and in each classroom, students have access to Internet and digital learning.

The Connections for Classrooms grant program is part of a broader effort that includes expanding the University System of Georgia’s Peachnet network to connect every Georgia LEA to its high-speed network.

The partnership between GaDOE and USG will ensure that all district central offices have 100 megabits of bandwidth per second, per school by July 2015.

Connections for Classrooms broadens this expansion to ensure that schools have sufficient network infrastructure to effectively utilize that increased bandwidth at the classroom level.