GREENFIELD — Greenfield Union School District is among several school districts in the Salinas Valley that have received federal funding to expand local broadband access and help close the digital divide for students.
Rep. Jimmy Panetta announced Monday that his congressional district, which includes the counties of Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito, received a total of $14.9 million in funding from the Federal Communications Commission’s Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF) Program.
“Although the pandemic highlighted the digital divide for many of our students locally, it allowed the federal government to step up and provide the funding necessary for kids to access the internet in many of our communities,” Panetta said. “This critical funding from the American Rescue Plan will help students on the Central Coast get and stay connected so they can get their work done. I look forward to continuing to work with our superintendents in each county to get them this funding and get our students online.”
The ECF program, which was created as part of the American Rescue Plan, helps schools and libraries ensure that students can connect to the internet at home, allowing them to take advantage of online learning and do their homework.
In Salinas Valley, the funding has been allocated to the following school districts:
- Greenfield Union School District ($781,407);
- Chualar Union Elementary School District ($82,076);
- Alisal Union Elementary School District ($2,092,238);
- Salinas City Elementary School District ($3,044,271);
- Salinas Union High School District ($411,240);
- Santa Rita Union School District ($1,182,838); and
- Spreckels Union School District ($93,874).
Salinas Public Library also received $24,000 from the ECF Program.
“I would like to thank Congressman Panetta for his ongoing support and advocacy that is bringing these much-needed resources to address the broadband needs in our county,” said Deneen Guss, Monterey County Superintendent of Schools. “When every student, every family has the ability to connect to the internet, it is a lifeline for them in so many ways. Our students need the ability to do online research more now than ever before.”
For eligible schools and libraries, the ECF Program will cover reasonable costs of laptop and tablet computers; Wi-Fi hotspots; modems; routers and broadband connectivity purchases for off-campus use by students, school staff and library patrons.
