GOVERNOR ANNOUNCES $420M REIMBURSMENT PROGRAM FOR TEXAS SCHOOLS

  

Gov. Greg Abbott, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) have announced a $420 million reimbursement program for Texas public schools.

The money will cover costs schools incurred when they purchased Wi-Fi hotspots and eLearning devices like laptops, tablets and Chromebooks.

These devices were purchased so students could learn remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The reimbursement program will use federal CARES Act dollars and builds on the progress made by Operation Connectivity, an initiative to close the digital divide in Texas.

School systems across Texas may apply for these reimbursement funds beginning tomorrow (Nov. 20).

Operation Connectivity, which was announced in May, has helped schools acquire more than 2 million eLearning devices and more than 800,000 WiFi hotspots.

Devices have been directly purchased by the state, purchased by school systems, donated by corporate partners, and in some cases, procured with the help of city and county governments leveraging federal CARES Act Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) dollars, helping reduce the digital divide in Texas.