The Ohio Controlling Board yesterday approved a request to appropriate $50 million in CARES Act funding to provide grant payments to public and private schools to support connectivity for in-need students and to create the BroadbandOhio Connectivity Grant Program.
Administered by the Ohio Department of Education (ODE), the program will create a matching grant program for school districts, joint vocational school districts, educational service centers, community schools, STEM schools, and nonpublic schools. Funds can be used to support connectivity for in-need students. Connectivity can be in the form of individual hotspots, in-home enterprise solutions, mobile hotspots or internet-connected devices.
Applicants will be required to commit to a 1-1 match. Awards will be prorated if the total amount requested by applicants exceeds the $50 million appropriation. According to ODE, other emergency federal funds received by a district or school in response to the pandemic may be used as their matching portion of funds.
We will update members as we receive more information, including the application procedures and timeline.
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