Walker County Schools Technology Director Patrick Gunn gave an update on how the school system is leveraging technology funding and internet safety measures at the last school board meeting.
At the December board meeting, Gann discussed how the school system complies with the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) and how E-rate funding will benefit the school system. . According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) website, “The Universal Service Support Program for Schools and Libraries, commonly known as the E-Rate Program, helps schools and libraries obtain affordable broadband. Schools, districts, and libraries that become eligible can apply individually or individually.”As part of a consortium…discounts for aid are based on poverty level and Depending on whether the service is located in a rural or rural area, discounts range from 20 percent to 90 percent of the cost of eligible services.”
E-rates are administered by the Universal Service Management Company under the direction of the FCC.
“Every cell phone bill is taxed with a special FCC tax that provides schools and libraries with funding for networks and internet,” Gunn said.
Gann said the school system receives about $800,000 to $1 million annually through E-rate to fund internet and network services.
“Since I came here as technology director, we have expanded the internet pipeline to schools from 1 gigabyte of bandwidth to up to 40 gigabytes of bandwidth.We also replaced switches and access points in all school buildings. We did,” Gunn said. “Without E-rate, we wouldn’t be able to operate. … We would be paying a lot of money out of the general fund to maintain the technology.”
Gunn said a public presentation on the school system’s CIPA compliance is a requirement for E-Rate.
Regarding CIPA compliance, he said, “This is about protecting our networks and computers from things that could be harmful to children: pornography, obscenity, and other things that we don’t want children to have access to.” said.
Gann also said the school system has special filters that monitor network email and internet searches to determine safety and whether students are considering self-harm. If something suspicious is detected, the school will receive an alert.
“We can support those students and get them the help they need,” he said.
Internet safety is also taught in schools as part of CIPA compliance.
In addition to the E-rate funding, Mr Gunn said funding through the Emergency Connectivity Fund had been beneficial in a number of ways during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The school system received more than $1 million from these funds.
“We were able to get enough funding from that to make sure every child had access to a Chromebook and some of our preschoolers had an iPad,” he said.
