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  2. May 2020

May 2020

Park Hill School District in Kansas City: An FCC Decision E-rate Applicants Should Know About

A years-long headache for the Park Hill (Kansas City, MO) School District has finally come to a satisfying resolution that could benefit schools and libraries across the US. Since Feb 2018, Park Hill has wrestled with the federal government to obtain E-rate funding for a fiber project connecting several of its schools. On April 27, the Federal Communications Commission finally granted Park Hill’s E-rate funding request in a decision that also sets a good precedent for the larger community of E-rate applicants.

To Close the Digital Divide, Congress Must Care About All Americans

If the coronavirus pandemic has taught the technology and communications policy world anything, it is that policymakers have utterly failed to meet the mission of the National Broadband Plan. Although the National Broadband Plan provided a road map and initially tracked progress, we have seen a relatively nonpartisan tech policy space abandon consensus views on the technicalities of the network and the importance of universal service principles.

USDA Invests $22.5 Million in High-Speed Broadband for Rural Michigan

The US Department of Agriculture is investing $22.5 million for two recipients in Michigan to provide broadband service in unserved and underserved rural areas. These investments are part of USDA’s round one investments made through the ReConnect Pilot Program. The awards include an $11.8 million loan/grant combination to Barry County Services Company to provide affordable, fiber-based broadband services in rural Barry County. This project will extend broadband availability to 17 farms, 16 businesses and 12,000 residents spread over 127 square miles. Southwest Michigan Communications Inc.

How Santa Fe, New Mexico Adopted Remote Learning During Crisis

Like many schools throughout the US, when the coronavirus forced Santa Fe (NM) Public Schools (SFPS) to go online, this 12,000-student district quickly put together an implementation plan and went to work. Though Santa Fe has pockets of wealth, New Mexico is one of the poorest states in the country, and the Santa Fe school district’s free and reduced lunch rate is 75 percent. But the district has received significant community support through a property tax-funded Educational Technology Note.

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