Tennessee Governor Bill Lee and Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bob Rolfe are providing $19.7 million in broadband accessibility grants that will expand service to support 31,000 unserved Tennesseans in nearly 12,700 rural households and businesses, as reported by The Tennessean on April 6. According to the FCC’s 2019 Broadband Deployment Report, nearly one in four rural Tennesseans lack access to broadband. Governor Lee has also included $25 million in FY2021’s budget to continue the program.
Kansas State University is expanding its resources to help people, across the world, transition to remote learning with a new free digital community for P-12 education, where educators and parents can share innovative ideas and resources that support student success. The online forum is open to parents, teachers, principals, superintendents and school counselors in Kansas and around the nation and world. This is a collaborative space to swap stories, experiences, ideas and resources around a shared mission to maintain educational services in times of unprecedented disruption.
The Virginia Department of Education convened a Continuity of Education Task Force, which includes families, educators, local and state leaders and business representatives. They crafted comprehensive guidance that will ensure learning continues for all students, while also ensuring students are served equitably, regardless of income level, access to technology, English Learner status or special needs. The guidance includes an emphasis on instructional models that could include blending of non-technology; face-to-face, small-group learning sessions; virtual platforms; and/or a combination of all of these models. School divisions are encouraged to utilize the Task Force guidance to develop and implement continuity for learning plans in partnership with families, staff members and local school boards.
