Dear County and District Superintendents and Charter School Administrators:

CPUC/CASF Grants $5M to CDE for Distance Learning Devices

Dear County and District Superintendents and Charter School Administrators:

The California Department of Education (CDE) and the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC)’s California Advanced Service Fund have signed an MOU to provide $5M of support directly to school districts to address distance learning needs for devices and hotspots.

Pursuant to CPUC Resolution T-17697 and CPUC Decision D.19-02-008, schools and school districts in communities facing socioeconomic barriers to broadband such as low-income communities, communities with a high percentage of residents with limited English proficiency, communities with a high percentage of residents with limited education attainment, and communities with some other demonstrated disadvantage will have priority.

The grant selection process and LEA needs evaluation will be based entirely on analysis of the computing and connectivity devices needs survey sponsored by the Small School Districts’ Association. This survey has been circulating since mid-March and over 2,000 schools/districts have completed the survey. If you have not completed this survey, please take this quick survey no later than COB on Friday, May 22, 2020. LEAs should not resubmit survey responses. Duplicate or revised submissions will not be considered.

Device survey for distance learning: https://forms.gle/WyxCRKVqQg9C49xZ8 (Note: The survey is closed and not accepting anymore responses).

Connectivity survey: https://forms.gle/uYq4BfMh5wF4jjfQ6 (Note: The survey is closed and not accepting anymore responses).

The terms and conditions of the award are:

• Awards will be prioritized in accordance with Resolution T-17697, specifically: “schools and school districts in communities facing socioeconomic barriers to broadband such as low-income communities, communities with a high percentage of residents with limited English proficiency, communities with a high percentage of residents with limited education attainment, and communities with some other demonstrated disadvantage will have priority.
  
• The metrics used for prioritization include (i) the percentage of students who receive free and reduced priced meals, (ii) the percentage of students who are English learners, and (iii) whether the LEA is designated as “rural” for the purposes of the federal Rural Achievement Education Program under Title V, Part B of Every Student Succeeds Act.
• Needs will be identified and quantified by analysis of the results of the survey discussed above.
• Recipients will be required to execute a grant application and agreement containing grant terms and conditions.
• Device costs will be less than $300 and hotspot costs shall be reasonable.
• Recipients must provide reasonable documentation to verify compliance with award terms including the submission by a certification of expenditures and copies of purchase orders and receipts, if requested.

If you have any questions, please email Geoff Belleau, California Department of Education at GBelleau@cde.ca.gov.

Sincerely,

Tony Thurmond
State Superintendent of Public Instruction