[July 18, 2011] Tucson Unified wins $4.4M in federal tech grants [The Arizona Daily Star, Tucson] Tweet (Arizona Daily Star (Tucson) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) July 18--The Tucson Unified School District has been approved for $4.4 million in federal funding for technology improvements. The funding, awarded by the E-Rate program, is on top of the $920,000 the district was recently awarded. E-Rate monies are awarded annually to eligible schools and libraries across the country. However, wide-ranging problems in TUSD's technology department have prevented the district from receiving any of that funding since 2002. Since then, TUSD has applied for funding each school year. Some applications were denied, one was withdrawn, and four with a combined face value of about $12 million have been held in abeyance. In order to have the prior year applications reviewed for consideration, TUSD had to undergo a considerable amount of scrutiny. It was announced last week by TUSD Chief Information Officer John Gay that E-Rate dollars would be flowing into the district once again with the approval of the 2009-2010 application for $920,000. The latest approval for $4.4 million is from an application for funding for the 2007-2008 school year. The award includes $3.65 million for new building level network upgrades and $752,000 in other network and telephone reimbursements. The E-Rate program provides discounts of 20 to 90 percent for telecommunication services, Internet access and internal connections such as routers, hubs and network file servers. Discounts for support depend on the level of poverty and the urban/rural status of the population served. Funding cannot be used for computers for teachers or students, fax machines, modems, software or professional development. "This second round of E-Rate funding approvals -- especially going all the way back to 2007-08 -- is a sound indication that we are well on the road to full E-Rate recovery and that TUSD's creditability with regard to its E-Rate program has been re-established in the minds of the organization that controls the funding," Gay said. TUSD has two more E-Rate applications pending. ___ To see more of The Arizona Daily Star, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.azstarnet.com. Copyright (c) 2011, The Arizona Daily Star, Tucson Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com, e-mail [email protected], or call 866-280-5210 (outside the United States, call +1 312-222-4544) [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]