Connections for Classrooms Grant Program final report, 2021 July

Connections for Classrooms Grant Program Final Report
July 2021
Steve Korwan

Connections for Classrooms Final Report
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Connections for Classrooms Final Report

Executive Summary

Connections for Classrooms (CFC) was a competitive grant program joining multiple state agencies around the common goal of ensuring Georgia schools and classrooms have the high-speed broadband access required for digital and blended learning. The program invested more than $92 million in grant awards from the following two sources:

Bond funds appropriated to the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE)
State general funds appropriated to the OneGeorgia Authority at the Department of Community Affairs (DCA). The Governor's Office of Student Achievement (GOSA) managed the funds.

The program was part of a broader statewide effort to expand classroom highspeed broadband access in response to former Governor Nathan Deal's Digital Learning Task Force recommendations, as well as GaDOE's efforts to enable personalized learning for Georgia students.

The effort complements the expansion of the University System of Georgia's (USG) PeachNet network to connect every Georgia Local Educational Agency (LEA) to its high-speed network. The partnership between USG and GaDOE ensured that all district central offices have 100 megabits per second per school of bandwidth as of July 2015. Connections for Classrooms offered schools the opportunity to increase network infrastructure to effectively utilize the increased bandwidth at the classroom level.

To align with the task force recommendations and prioritize funding, the grant
application and award criteria prioritize funding districts that leveraged
technology to implement digital learning, where students have "some element of control over the time, place, path, and/or pace" of learning.1

Table 1: CFC Summary by Round

Round
1 2 3 4 5

Amount Awarded
$35 million $25.7 million $15.1 million $4.0 million $10.7 million

Participating LEAs
104 136 62 33 72

Eligible Expenditures
Network Infrastructure E-Rate Category 2 E-Rate Category 2
Digital Learning Devices E-Rate, Network and Digital Devices, Emer. Grants

1 Definition as outlined in the Digital Learning Task Force recommendations and adapted from Digital Learning Now! and the Florida Virtual School. https://gosa.georgia.gov/what-digitallearning

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In 2014, CFC provided approximately $37 million in funds for Local Education Agencies (LEAs) to upgrade broadband infrastructure at the district, school and classroom levels. All Round 1 reimbursements are complete.

In late 2014, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) infused $2 billion into Category 2 of the federal E-Rate program to focus on building out schooland classroom-level network infrastructure. With these changes, Georgia districts became eligible for as much as $188 million in Category 2 funds over the next five years.

Given this change, Rounds 2 and 3 shifted focus to exclusively provide funds for the LEAs' E-Rate local match instead of directly funding infrastructure, allowing schools to leverage federal funds toward their infrastructure needs alongside their grant money. Round 2 fully funded the "local match" for all LEAs that applied for Round 1 grants but still had unfunded

Over the first three rounds, $77 million in state-funded grants to 159 LEAs enabled them to receive $129 million in federal E-Rate funds for school network infrastructure, for a total network infrastructure investment of $206 million.

school-level infrastructure needs.

Approximately $25.3 million was awarded

to 136 LEAs, enabling LEAs to receive more than $90 million in E-Rate funds.

Round 3 applications opened to all LEAs with remaining E-Rate Category 2 eligibility in summer 2015 and closed in October 2015. 62 LEAs applied. Governor Deal announced $15.1 million in Round 3 awards in 2016, which enabled districts to receive $36.8 million in E-Rate funds.

Overall, the program's first three Rounds enabled many Georgia districts, state schools, and state charter schools to make critical upgrades to their network infrastructures. In total, from years 2014 to 2016, $77 million in state-funded grants to 159 LEAs enabled them to receive $129 million in federal E-Rate funds for school network infrastructure, for a total network infrastructure investment of $206 million.

With the remaining $4 million in funds, CFC shifted focus for the Round 4 to fund digital learning devices such as laptops and tablets in rural, high-need districts poised to implement digital learning. Fifty-eight (58) districts applied for $11.9 million in fall 2016. After independent reviewers scored applications, 33 rural, high-need school districts received $4 million in grants in December 2016.

In 2017, as prior Connections for Classrooms rounds wound down, many grantees did not spend all awarded funds. As such, CFC rescinded those funds to be used in another grant round since many other districts still had remaining network and

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device needs. In summer 2017, GOSA surveyed school district technology directors and charter school leaders to learn the most strategic focus for the next round. The survey indicated a mixture of need across the state--some needed increased investment in network infrastructure, while others needed digital learning devices. With that in mind, GOSA launched Round 5 in September 2017 which allowed applicants to request funds for either network infrastructure or digital devices. Rural, high-need districts, state schools, and charter schools were eligible to apply for Round 5 (more details on eligibility criteria are available on p. 11).
In January 2018, Governor Deal awarded $7.1 million to 60 applicants that scored a 50 or higher during the review process. Awardees included 51 districts, two state charter schools, and seven local charter schools. Seventy-four percent (74%) of awards were for digital devices, while the remaining 26% were for network infrastructure. The 12 remaining districts that did not receive funding were provided the opportunity to revise and resubmit their applications for rescoring in early 2018.
In February 2018, Governor Deal awarded an additional $778K to seven applicants that scored 50 or higher during the review process. Awardees included six districts and one state charter school. In February 2019, using unused and rescinded funds, the Department of Juvenile Justice was awarded $1.5 million in Round 5 funding to use to improve the broadband infrastructure in their school facilities around the state. The full list of Round 5 awardees is available in Appendix B.
In the early spring of 2020 the United States became engulfed in the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to this pandemic, most schools in the U.S., including those in the State of Georgia began virtual schooling with students doing classes from home. In order to assist with the requirements for virtual learning, the Connections for Classrooms Program made two emergency Round 5 grants. The first grant for $999,726.30 for mobile Wi-Fi hot spot antennas for schools and communities around the state. The second grant for $96,000.00 helped pay for the broadband service associated with the additional needs for the virtual online schooling.
The following final report summarizes the CFC program activities from the beginning of the program through the end of the program on June 30, 2021.
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Figure 1: Map of Connections for Classrooms Rounds 1-3 Awardees
Gray districts did not apply for or receive a CFC award.
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Figure 2: Map of Digital Learning Device Rural Grant Program Grantees
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Figure 3: Map of Round 5 Awardees
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Table of Contents
Executive Summary................................................................................................................... iii Table of Abbreviations ............................................................................................................... x Background and Prior Connections for Classrooms Rounds ................................................... 1
Digital Learning Task Force Recommendations ....................................................................... 1 Round 1 Summary.................................................................................................................... 2 Round 2 Summary.................................................................................................................... 3 Round 3 Summary.................................................................................................................... 5 Digital Learning Device Rural Grant Program .......................................................................... 6 Summary of Expenditures through the conclusion of the Program ............................................ 8 Round 5: Addressing Remaining Network and Device Needs .................................................10 Overview .................................................................................................................................10 Priorities..................................................................................................................................10 Eligible Districts and Schools ..................................................................................................10 Application and Scoring ..........................................................................................................12 Retroactive Grant Awards .......................................................................................................12 Grant Awards ..........................................................................................................................13 Round 5 COVID-19 Pandemic Emergency Grants..................................................................14 Appendix A: Connections for Classrooms Grant Awards by LEA (Rounds 1-4) ...................15 Appendix B: Round 5 Award List.............................................................................................24
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Table of Abbreviations

AFY

Amended Fiscal Year GOSA

CFC DCA DLTF FCC
FY GaDOE

Connections for Classrooms Department of Community Affairs Digital Learning Task Force Federal Communication Commission Fiscal Year Georgia Department of Education

LEA LOI Mbps USAC
USF USG

Governor's Office of Student Achievement Local Education Agency Letter of Intent
Megabits Per Second
Universal Service Administrative Company Universal Service Fund University System of Georgia

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Background and Prior Connections for Classrooms Rounds
Digital Learning Task Force Recommendations
Connections for Classrooms (CFC) was part of a broader statewide effort to extend high-speed broadband access to Georgia classrooms. In 2012, Governor Nathan Deal recognized the growing need for statewide strategies that implemented high-quality digital learning in the state as a means to increase student achievement. As a result, he formed the Digital Learning Task Force (DLTF) to examine the state of digital learning and develop recommendations for areas of focus and improvement. The task force met eight times from November 2012 to December 2013 and developed three broad categories of recommendations: infrastructure, digital content and courses, and blended and competency-based learning.
Concerning infrastructure, the report recognized that schools must have the necessary broadband and network infrastructure to support digital learning, resulting in the following two recommendations:
Recommendation 1: Increase statewide broadband capacity to schools, ensuring that Georgia's schools are able to utilize 21st century technology in classrooms.
Recommendation 2: Increase districts' ability to expand wireless connectivity and device availability within schools, allowing them to fully leverage increased broadband capacity.
To meet Recommendation 1, the state focused on creating a K-12 Network through the expansion of the University System of Georgia's (USG) PeachNet backbone. Completed in July 2015 through a strategic partnership between the University System of Georgia (USG) and the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE), the backbone expansion connects every Georgia Local Educational Agency (LEA) in order to supply 100 megabits per second (Mbps) of broadband connectivity for each school.
The expansion of PeachNet and the assurance of 100 Mbps for all schools required further investments to ensure that the increased bandwidth could be fully leveraged in Georgia classrooms, meeting Recommendation 2. To help alleviate some of this burden, in early 2014 GaDOE administered an initial, bond-funded $7 million grant program to school districts for equipment that would connect the LEA's central office to the PeachNet backbone (e.g., firewalls and filtering). All LEAs that applied for funding received a tiered allocation based upon the amount of bandwidth expected to be received through the K-12 Network. While the initial grant assisted LEAs in connecting to PeachNet, significant network infrastructure
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gaps remained at the district, school and classroom levels. To address those needs, Governor Deal proposed, and the General Assembly approved, a $37 million appropriation in the Amended Fiscal Year (AFY) 2014 budget. These funds created a partnership between three state agencies: GaDOE, the Governor's Office of Student Achievement (GOSA), and the OneGeorgia Authority. Fourteen million ($14 million) in bond funds were appropriated to GaDOE, and $22.5 million in general funds were appropriated to the OneGeorgia Authority for GOSA to administer. In the spring 2014, the Connections for Classrooms Grant Program, housed at GOSA, was formed to oversee the competitive grant process and administer the program. Round 1 Summary Announced in May 2014, Round 1 offered competitive grants to all LEAs to upgrade broadband infrastructures and enhance their abilities to facilitate effective digital learning. LEAs submitted applications focused on both the educational and technical components of digital learning. High-scoring applications clearly articulated detailed technical plans for infrastructure upgrades, while also demonstrating a clear strategy to leverage digital learning to provide students with some measure of control over the time, place, path, and/or pace of their education to improve student achievement. Round 1 primarily focused on purchasing and installing equipment needed to ensure the increased bandwidth reached classrooms (e.g., firewalls, routers, filters, cabling, ports, local area network, wide area network, and wireless access points). School needs were divided into tiers to determine eligibility. The CFC grants funded infrastructure at the Tier 1 (District), Tier 2 (School), and Tier 3 (Classroom) levels. These tiers are illustrated in the figure below.
Figure 4: Diagram of CFC Tiers
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CFC Round 1 received 146 applications from143 districts, two state charter schools, and one state school--with a total funding request of $198 million. In October 2014, Governor Deal announced awards to 104 applicants (102 districts, one state charter school, and one state school), totaling $37 million. All Tier 1 needs were fully funded, and Tier 2 funds were partially funded on a sliding scale based on the application score. The six highest-scoring LEAs (Thomas, Peach, Tattnall, Ben Hill, Laurens, and Georgia School for the Deaf) received full funding for their Tiers 1 to 3 requests once their Tier 3 award funds were combined with expected Category 2 E-Rate funds [see the E-Rate Overview box on Page 5 for more details on how the local match is determined]. Appendix A includes a list of final award amounts by grant round.
Including the top six winners who received E-Rate match funds, all Round 1 projects were successfully closed out by Feb. 12, 2018. GOSA is actively conducting site visits each month with Round 1 grantees to ensure that grantees are utilizing funded equipment as outlined in the approved contracts. In total, $6.1 million of the original grants was not spent and therefore has been rolled forward into subsequent award allocations. Many Round 1 grantees received grants in later rounds, which are detailed in the following sections.
Round 2 Summary
While Round 1 made significant progress, more than $160 million in infrastructure needs from applicants remained unfunded. As a result, in the amended FY2015 budget, Governor Deal proposed, and the General Assembly approved, an additional $30 million to the OneGeorgia Authority for additional network investment.
Instead of directly funding infrastructure needs as in Round 1, these funds were devoted to ensuring districts maximize federal infrastructure funds through the Federal Communication Commission's (FCC) E-Rate Program, which provides discounted rates for school internet access and telecommunication needs. In 2014, the FCC infused $2 billion in additional funds to focus on Category 2 services, which align with CFC Tiers 2 and 3, making federal funds available to more districts than in the past. LEAs that receive Category 2 E-Rate funds must fund a "local match" of the cost before being able to expend federal E-Rate funds, which creates a barrier for many districts [see the E-Rate Overview box on Page 5 for more details on how the local match is determined]. As such, the goal of CFC Round 2 was to fund the "local match" of approved Category 2 equipment and services for remaining infrastructure needs from Round 1 applicants.
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E-Rate Overview
The Federal Communication Commission's (FCC) E-Rate Program was "mandated by Congress in 1996 and implemented by the Federal Communications Commission in 1997." The Universal Services Administrative Company (USAC) administers the program to provide discounted services, such as internet access and broadband infrastructure, to eligible schools and libraries. E-Rate funds are generated from telecommunications service providers through the collection of a fee from consumers referred to as a "Universal Service" fee on their phone bills.

The E-Rate program is divided into two separate categories of funding. Category 2 services (internal connections, managed internal broadband services, and basic maintenance of internal connections) align with Tiers 2 and 3 in the CFC program. Therefore, only E-Rate Category 2 eligible items, as determined by USAC, were approved for funding in Round 2 of CFC.

When the FCC infused $2 billion in additional funds to focus on Category 2 services in 2014, it made all LEAs in the country eligible for $150 per student or a minimum of $9,200 per school, subject to each district's discount rate. The discount a school receives from the E-Rate program is determined based on the poverty level and urban/rural status of the school. It ranges from 20-85 percent (e.g. a rural school with a high percentage of students in poverty will receive a higher discount than an urban school with a lower percentage of students in poverty). The remaining percentage after the discount is considered the "local match," which the CFC program has funded for grantees. As an example, a school with 1,000 students and an 80% discount rate is eligible for $150 1,000 or $150,000.00. The E-Rate program would provide $120,000 (80%), and the local match would be $30,000 (20%).

Unfunded Tier 2 and 3 Needs (Based on CFC Round 1 application) $150,000.00

Example School

E-Rate Discount (Determined by
FCC)

Local Match (Portion paid by
school)

80%

$30,000.00

Federally Funded Portion (Portion paid through the ERate program)
$120,000.00

Round 2 funded the "local match" for all LEAs that applied for Round 1 grants but still had unfunded school- and classroom-level infrastructure needs (Tiers 2 and 3). On May 5, 2015, Governor Deal announced $25.4 million in Round 2 grant awards to 134 districts and two state charter schools. Funds could only be used for E-Rate Category 2 items in FY15 and/or FY16 E-Rate Funding Years. Funding could also be used for previous years if the LEA had a previous Priority 2 E-Rate funding commitment for which it had not been able to provide its local match and the equipment or services aligned with the current Category 2.2

2 In conjunction with the Round 3 award announcements, GOSA announced that it would allow Round 2 awards to be used for the FY17 E-Rate funding cycle.

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Grantees were only eligible to receive funds up to their maximum eligible "local match" for their remaining needs.
Once award amounts were determined, LEAs submitted a Letter of Intent (LOI) claiming their award amounts and specifying the E-Rate funding cycle(s) in which funds would be used as well as the estimated amounts to be used for each cycle. Once LEAs receive funding approval from E-Rate, they were required to send their USAC Form 471 and Funding Commitment Decision Letter, which confirmed both the E-Rate federal funding and local match required. One hundred, thirty-four of 136 LEAs accepted their Round 2 awards (133 districts and one state charter school). Appendix A includes a list of final award amounts by grant round.
Round 3 Summary
In June 2015, GOSA opened applications in Round 3 of the grant program to provide roughly $8.2 million in awards to Georgia LEAs with remaining E-Rate eligibility enabling districts to receive $14 to 18 million in federal E-Rate funds. Applicants could request funding for the 2015, 2016, and 2017 E-Rate funding cycles.
Since USAC reviews districts' E-Rate applications from a technical perspective, the Georgia grant application was revised to focus primarily on digital learning plans and requested only a high-level technical description of infrastructure. More specifically, the application included the following elements:
Brief description of network infrastructure plans, Digital learning implementation plans, Alignment with state and district technology plans, and Professional learning plans for effective digital learning implementation.
As with Round 1, applicants were required to describe how the increased connectivity would enable the LEA to implement digital learning, defined as "learning facilitated by technology that gives students some element of control over time, place, path and/or pace," to improve student outcomes.
Sixty-two (62) LEAs applied for $15.2 million in grants. Each application was scored by two independent reviewers with expertise in digital learning using a 50point rubric. Any review with more than a 10-point spread between reviewers resulted in a third review, which was then averaged with the other two scores.
On Jan. 19, 2016, Governor Deal announced $8.2 million in awards to 47 districts and one state school. Given the limited funds, only nine of the 48 grantees were fully funded. With this limitation in mind, Governor Deal included an additional $9.4 million in his AFY16 budget during the 2016 legislative session, which the
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General Assembly passed in the budget. Once the budget was signed, Governor Deal announced an additional $6.9 million in Round 3 grants to fully fund the ERate local match for all Round 3 applicants.
In sum, the combined $15.1 million in Round 3 funds enabled LEAs including 60 districts, one state school, and one state charter school to receive $36.8 million in federal E-Rate funds, for a total investment of $51.9 million in school network infrastructure.
For Round 3, awardees followed the same LOI process to reserve funding. As before, GOSA entered into a contract with awardees once they received and submitted E-Rate funding confirmation (USAC Form 471 and Funding Commitment Decision Letter).
As with prior rounds, GOSA staff conducted monitoring visits to a number of grantees each month to ensure that grantees are utilizing purchased equipment in alignment with their contracts.
As of the end of February 2020, all Awardees in Rounds 1, 2, or 3 had submitted documentation for reimbursement of eligible grant expenditures or for E-Rate FY15, FY16, or FY17 Category 2 expenses and have closed out their grants.
Digital Learning Device Rural Grant Program
In the first three rounds of the Connections for Classrooms Grant Program, $77 million in grants were awarded to 159 LEAs for district and school network upgrades. As a result, all districts that applied for grant funds now have, or will soon have, wireless internet access in their classrooms. However, many schools, particularly those in rural and high-need areas, lack the necessary resources to purchase devices to fully leverage the increased connectivity and enable students to authentically participate in digital learning. In addition, the need for digital learning devices has been evident throughout the grant program. In the fall 2015 survey of grantees, 86% of respondents reported that future funding should be devoted to student devices.
With this information in mind, GOSA announced a new round of competitive grant funding in July 2016, the Digital Learning Device Rural Grant Program. This round enabled rural, high-need districts poised to implement digital learning to purchase laptops, tablets, or other mobile devices used for instruction.
Due to limited funding, this round utilized a competitive application submission and review process to determine awards. Strong applicants clearly described how grant funds would enable them to change instruction to implement digital learning specifically facilitating learning with technology that gives students some control over time, place, path, and/or pace. In addition, they demonstrated their needs for
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devices, outlined their device selection/deployment/maintenance plans, and provided assurance of network preparedness to support devices. Eligibility for this round was limited to the 72 LEAs determined to be both rural and high-need, using the criteria explained below. Eligible LEAs could apply for up to $75 per student. These funds were not intended to purchase a $75 device per student. Rather, districts could leverage the
Who was eligible for the Digital Learning Device Rural Grant Program?
High-Need: LEAs located in one of 71 Tier 1 counties using the Georgia Department of Community Affairs' annual job tax credit tiers. These counties represent the counties with the highest unemployment rate, lowest per capita income, and highest percentage of residents whose incomes are below the poverty level in the state. In addition to being districts with high student needs, the economic conditions make it less likely that these districts are able to bridge the device gap with Bring Your Own Device policies and local purchases.
Rural: LEAs serving fewer than twenty-five students per square mile. These LEAs must spend proportionally more funds per pupil since they serve a more dispersed population and do not have the economies of scale of larger districts. In addition, students are more likely to spend longer times on buses and have more limited dual enrollment opportunities, increasing the need for digital learning.
The three State Schools were also eligible. In addition, state charter schools that are located in a Tier 1 County and have an attendance zone in which all LEAs were eligible for the grant were also eligible.
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total eligible funding amount to implement a plan that utilized devices to best serve students. All devices had to comply with the minimum standards for online testing through the Georgia Milestones Assessment System.
GOSA received applications from 58 of 72 eligible LEAs by the Nov. 1, 2016, deadline, totaling $11.9 million in requested funds. External reviewers scored the applications using a similar process as in prior grant rounds.
On Dec. 21, 2016, Governor Deal announced that 33 rural, high-need districts would be awarded nearly $4 million to purchase laptops and tablets.
As of Dec. 31, 2018, all 33 awardees had submitted documentation for reimbursement and closed out their grants.

Summary of Expenditures through the conclusion of the Program
As of the end of the program in June 2021, Connections for Classrooms had granted approximately $91.7 million across five grant rounds, not including a prior GaDOE Technology Grant in 2014 that provided another $7 million, as seen in Table 2. Of those funds, $77,765,376.14 had been reimbursed, and $20,990,496.36 had been rescinded through all of the funding rounds.

Table 2: Funding and Expenditures Across Grant Rounds

Total Award

Reimbursed

Rescinded

Remaining Obligated

2014 DOE Tech Grants

(bonds)

$7,000,000.00

$6,649,439.97

$350,560.03

$0.00

Round 1 DOE (bonds)

$14,000,000.00

$11,507,304.17 $2,492,695.83

$0.00

Round 1 GOSA

$22,227,210.47

$16,063,848.76 $6,163,361.71

$0.00

Round 2

$25,761,675.85

$20,320,065.27 $5,441,610.58

$0.00

Round 3

$15,133,934.31

$9,294,580.63 $5,839,353.68

$0.00

Round 4

$3,965,576.00

$3,962,145.38

$3,430.62

$0.00

Round 5

$10,667,475.87

$9,967,991.96

$699,483.91

$0.00

Total

$98,755,872.50

$77,765,376.14 $20,990,496.36

$0.00

*Note that rescinded funds were reallocated back into grant rounds as they become available. For example, Rounds 4

and 5 were made available exclusively with reallocated funds. Please note that in addition to the Round by Round

funding shown above, approximately $1.48 million in grant funds was used for administering the Program by GOSA

and Department of Community Affairs.

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As districts closed out their grants, any remaining unspent grant funds were rescinded from grantees for use in future grant rounds. Overall, throughout all of the funding rounds, $20,990,496.36 had been rescinded from grantees. Appendix A includes a list of grantees from the first four rounds with the amount awarded, reimbursed and rescinded as of the end of the program on June 30, 2021. In many cases, the rescinded funds were small amounts of money that either exceeded a district's E-Rate approved eligibility or were too small to facilitate additional purchasing. Another common reason for the rescinded funds was that the Round 2 awards were based upon Round 1 applications. However, Round 2 awards required districts to apply for federal E-Rate funding to access funds, rather than allowing them to directly purchase equipment. Therefore, districts that did not apply for E-Rate or applied for less than their eligibility were unable to use all of their funding.
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Round 5: Addressing Remaining Network and Device Needs
Overview
As prior Connections for Classrooms rounds wound down, many grantees did not spend all awarded funds. As such, the program rescinded those funds for use in another grant round. To determine remaining needs around the state, GOSA surveyed school district technology directors and charter school leaders to learn the most strategic focus for the next round. The survey indicated a mixture of need across the state--some needed an increased investment in network infrastructure, while others needed digital learning devices.
In September 2017, GOSA announced a new round of Connections for Classrooms Grant Program funding. Round 5 focused on enabling eligible districts and schools to upgrade their digital networks or, if additional network upgrades were not needed in the next two years, purchase additional digital devices. Prior rounds focused on one or the other. Applications were due on Nov. 15, 2017.
Priorities
Round 5 had three priority areas, listed below:
Priority 1: Local match funding for FY2018 E-Rate Category 2 school network infrastructure costs.
Priority 2: School or district network infrastructure up to $50 per student eligible but for which the district/school no longer had remaining Category 2 eligibility for the schools in its application.
Priority 3: Digital devices up to $50 per student. To be eligible, districts must have utilized all Category 2 E-Rate eligibility or could commit in writing that no E-Rate eligible network upgrades will be completed over the next two years.
For Priorities 2 and 3, funds were not intended to purchase a $50 device or piece of equipment per student. Rather, the total eligible funding amount derived from the $50/student could be used for network equipment or digital devices that complied with the grant requirements and best served students.
Eligible Districts and Schools
As in the Digital Learning Device Rural Grant Program, this round targeted rural and high need districts (although with slight differences, as seen in the table on the following page). In addition, the program allowed locally-authorized charter schools to apply directly for funding rather than only through their district. Local
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charters, as well state special schools and state charter schools, competed against each other. Districts competed with other districts.
Who was eligible for Round 5? Eligible Districts
High-Need: District is located in a county that is in Tiers 1, 2, or 3 using the Georgia Department of Community Affairs' annual job tax credit tiers. These counties represent the counties with the highest unemployment rate, lowest per capita income, and highest percentage of residents whose incomes are below the poverty level in the state. In addition to having high student needs, the economic conditions in these counties make it less likely that these districts are able to bridge the device gap with Bring Your Own Device policies and local purchases.
Rural: LEAs serving less than 25 students per square mile. These LEAs must spend proportionally more funds per pupil since they serve a more dispersed population and do not have the economies of scale of larger districts. In addition, students are more likely to spend longer times on buses and have more limited dual enrollment opportunities, making digital learning more important.
Eligible Schools Schools in the following categories are eligible to apply:
Locally-authorized charter schools not included in their LEA's E-Rate application, State Charter Commission-authorized charter schools, and State special schools.
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Application and Scoring
As in past years, this round included a competitive application. Strong applicants clearly described how this grant would enable them to upgrade and improve their digital networks to change instruction and, ultimately, implement digital learning. Specifically, strong applicants demonstrated how they would facilitate learning with technology to give students some control over time, place, path, and/or pace. In addition, they demonstrated their need for network equipment or devices, outlined their equipment selection/deployment/maintenance plans, and explained how this investment would tie into their current network.
Each application was scored by two independent reviewers with expertise in digital learning using a 100-point rubric. Any review with more than a 10-point spread between reviewers resulted in a third review, which was then averaged with the other two scores.

Retroactive Grant Awards
While most locally-authorized charter schools either applied for E-Rate through their district or did not apply at all, four local charter schools applied for E-Rate funds directly to USAC in 2015, 2016, or 2017. These schools were not included in their authorizing district's E-Rate applications, and they were also ineligible to apply for previous CFC rounds that only allowed LEAs to apply. In addition, each district's unused CFC grant exceeded the charter school's local match amount. As a result, GOSA retroactively awarded these schools a grant equivalent to their ERate local match. These schools are included in the table below.
Round 5 Local Charter School Retroactive Awards

Charter School Hapeville Charter Schools KIPP Metro Atlanta Schools Academy for Classical Education The Main Street Academy Total

District Fulton Fulton/Atlanta Bibb Fulton

Total E-Rate Request
$ 103,463.79 $ 246,297.53 $ 101,652.35 $ 32,096.00 $ 483,509.67

Local Match Requirement (Award Amount)/Used

$ 18,258.32/2,989.29

$ 43,464.27/38,145.77

$ 17,938.65/15,567.15

$

8,024.00/6,974.00

$ 87,685.24/63,676.21

As with all awards for E-Rate local matches, the awards were contingent upon USAC approval of the schools' E-Rate applications.

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Grant Awards
By the Nov. 15 deadline, 61 districts, eight local charter schools, and three state charter schools applied for $8.1 million of eligible requests. Nearly 75% of the requests were for Priority 3--Digital Learning Devices.
In January 2018, Governor Deal awarded $7.1 million to 60 applicants that scored a 50 or higher on the rubric. Awardees include 51 districts, two state charter schools, and seven local charter schools. In terms of priority areas, 74% of awards were for Priority 3: Digital Devices, while the remaining 26% were for network infrastructure through Priorities 1 and 2.
Applicants that did not receive funding were provided the opportunity to revise and resubmit their applications for rescoring in early 2018. Each applicant received their rubric scores and reviewer feedback to improve their submission. Resubmissions were then re-scored by two different reviewers to determine if the application exceeded an average of 50 to receive an award. GOSA held $1 million to allow for their resubmissions.
In February 2018, Governor Deal awarded an additional $778K to seven applicants that scored 50 or higher on the rubric. Awardees included six districts and one state charter school.
In February 2019, using rescinded and unused grant funds, the Department of Juvenile Justice was awarded $1.5 million in Round 5 funds for eligible items to assist in upgrading the broadband infrastructure in their educational facilities. The full list of Round 5 awardees is available in Appendix B.
Awardees in Rounds 2 and 3 were allowed a final extension to submit reimbursement requests by March 31, 2020, which allowed sufficient time to receive E-Rate approval from the federal government. Round 4, which does not involve E-Rate, had a deadline of Dec. 31, 2018, for reimbursement requests. Finally, awardees in Round 5 were granted an extension to use their funds to complete their eligible projects. All reimbursement requests for Round 5 were due and received by June 30, 2021.
13

Connections for Classrooms Final Report
Round 5 COVID-19 Pandemic Emergency Grants As done throughout the duration of the program, unused funds were rescinded for future use within the program or to be returned to the State general funds at the close of the program. In early spring of 2021, the U.S. became engulfed in the COVID-19 pandemic. During this time, schools around the U.S. as well as within the State of Georgia began at home classes using virtual online learning to complete the academic year. In order to accomplish this process, additional Wi-Fi network access points and wireless service was required to handle the increased student and staff wireless network usage. In order to assist with these needs, the Connections for Classrooms Program provided two emergency grants utilizing unused rescinded funds. The first grant for almost $1,000,000.00 was used to purchase Wi-Fi access points that were deployed around the state school communities to allow for students to have additional locations to get access to wireless services for virtual learning. The second grant for $96,000.00 was used to help pay for the additional wireless provider services for the increased bandwidth required to utilize the virtual learning process during the academic year.
14

Connections for Classrooms Final Report

Appendix A: Connections for Classrooms Grant Awards by LEA (Rounds 1-4)
The table below includes all state funds awarded, reimbursed, remaining, and rescinded from grants as of the end of June 2021. Federal E-Rate funds enabled by CFC grants are excluded. Rescinded funds were reallocated to future grant rounds as they became available. The table below also includes GaDOE Technology Grants that predated Connections for Classrooms and utilized $7 million in FY14 bond funds.

LEA_ID 601 602 761 603 604 605 606 607 608 609 610 611 612 613 763 614

LEA Name Appling County Atkinson County Atlanta Public Schools Bacon County Baker County Baldwin County Banks County Barrow County Bartow County Ben Hill County Berrien County Bibb County Bleckley County Brantley County Bremen City Brooks County

Rounds Awarded Tech, 1, 2
1, 3 Tech, 1, 2 Tech, 1, 2, 3
Tech Tech, 1, 2, 4 Tech, 1, 2 Tech, 1, 2, 3
1, 3 Tech, 1, 4 Tech, 1, 2, 3, 4 Tech, 1, 3 Tech, 1, 2, 4 Tech, 1, 2
1, 2 Tech, 3

Total Initial Award
$166,485.00 $55,567.50 $2,749,050.73 $89,851.00 $19,000.00 $499,807.70 $496,299.66 $1,237,288.79 $303,768.60 $269,485.56 $308,753.38 $746,569.00 $191,179.66 $221,035.65 $324,006.13 $65,642.50

Total Reimbursed
$122,599.63 $53,844.71 $2,070,968.34 $56,621.22 $12,405.90 $488,519.87 $469,561.76 $593,806.94 $252,824.29 $177,043.82 $259,513.71 $510,175.93 $190,201.39 $142,089.97 $258,170.84 $65,637.50

Total Rescinded
$43.885.37 $1,722.79 $678,082.39 $33,229.78 $6,594.10 $11,287.83 $26,737.90 $643,481.85 $50,944.31 $92,441.74 $49,239.67 $236,393.07 $978.27.36 $78,945.68 $65,835.29
$5.00

Total Remaining
$0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00

15

615 Bryan County 764 Buford City 616 Bulloch County 617 Burke County 618 Butts County 765 Calhoun City 619 Calhoun County 620 Camden County 621 Candler County 622 Carroll County 766 Carrollton City 767 Cartersville City 623 Catoosa County 624 Charlton County 625 Chatham County 626 Chattahoochee County 627 Chattooga County 628 Cherokee County 769 Chickamauga City 629 Clarke County 630 Clay County 631 Clayton County 632 Clinch County 633 Cobb County

Connections for Classrooms Final Report

Tech, 2 Tech, 1, 2, 3 Tech, 2, 3 Tech, 2 ,4 Tech, 1, 2
3 Tech, 1, 2
Tech Tech, 2, 3 Tech, 1, 2, 3
Tech, 1, 2 Tech, 2, 3 Tech, 1, 2 Tech, 1, 2 Tech, 2 Tech, 1, 2, 4 Tech, 1, 2, 3 Tech, 1, 2 Tech, 1, 2
Tech Tech, 2 Tech, 1, 2, 4 Tech, 1, 3

$470,750.00 $399,233.98 $374,680.00 $157,199.35 $262,898.50 $113,820.00 $109,344.56 $82,000.00 $80,410.00 $935,877.20
$0.00 $155,086.14 $399,700.00 $268,804.99 $998,567.32 $44,980.00 $138,812.75 $3,569,896.96 $229,529.32 $907,937.99 $19,000.00 $1,263,160.00 $174,295.00 $4,434,081.51

$322,712.82 $380,305.43 $186,187.76 $156,373.72 $251,350.10 $106,694.40 $105,490.29 $82,000.00 $58,447.22 $858,568.05
$0.00 $152,257.90 $230,446.20 $268,729.30 $987,768.87 $44,783.20 $135,378.65 $2,611,045.90 $227,350.32 $315,837.98 $18,745.00 $1,258,945.14 $87,307.56 $2,587,858.42

$148,037.18 $18,928.55 $188,492.24
$825.63 $11,548.40 $7,125.60
3,854.27 $0.00
$21,962.78 $77,309.15
$0.00 $2,828.24 $169,253.80
$75.69 $10,798.45
$196.80 $3,434.10 $958,851.06 $2,179.00 $592,100.01
$255.00 $4,214.86 $86,987.44 $1,846,223.09

$0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
16

634 Coffee County 635 Colquitt County 636 Columbia County 771 Commerce City 637 Cook County 638 Coweta County 639 Crawford County 640 Crisp County 641 Dade County 772 Dalton City 642 Dawson County 773 Decatur City 643 Decatur County 644 DeKalb County 645 Dodge County 646 Dooly County 647 Dougherty County 648 Douglas County 774 Dublin City 649 Early County 650 Echols County 651 Effingham County 652 Elbert County 653 Emanuel County

Connections for Classrooms Final Report

Tech, 2 ,4 Tech, 1, 2, 3, 4 Tech, 1, 2, 3
Tech, 1, 2 Tech, 1, 2 Tech, 2 Tech, 1, 2 Tech, 1, 2, 4
Tech, 1, 2 Tech, 1, 2, 3 Tech, 2, 3 Tech, 1, 2, 4 Tech, 1, 2
Tech, 2 Tech, 1, 2
Tech Tech, 1, 2, 3
Tech, 1, 2, 3 Tech, 2 ,4 Tech, 1, 2, 3
1, 2 Tech, 3, 4

$263,578.75 $684,724.60 $2,143,405.00 $123,904.60 $225,668.54 $1,384,780.00 $151,768.00 $275,193.07
$0.00 $712,164.50 $238,027.01 $404,803.80 $469,045.49 $11,574,977.35 $112,810.00 $69,798.52 $82,000.00 $1,890,558.20
$0.00 $154,813.00 $50,640.00 $515,568.77 $494,197.50 $176,597.02

$222,193.50 $617,044.59 $1,962,639.03 $111,604.24 $178,645.99 $1,217,684.35 $132,792.04 $258,631.48
$0.00 $632,973.55 $237,224.14 $259,296.17 $451,532.62 $6,403,129.53 $107,517.14 $67,220.34 $82,000.00 $1,245,295.11
$0.00 $140,146.25 $31,572.25 $408,173.72 $398,573.44 $176,107.69

$41,385.25 $67,680.01 $180,765.97 $12,300.36 $47,022.55 $167,095.65 $18,975.96 $16,561.59
$0.00 $79,190.95
$802.87 $145,507.63 $17,512.87 $5,171,847.82
$5,292.86 $2,579.18
$0.00 $645,263.09
$0.00 $14,666.75 $19,067.75 $107,395.05 $95,624.06
$489.33

$0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
17

654 Evans County 655 Fannin County 656 Fayette County 657 Floyd County 658 Forsyth County 659 Franklin County 660 Fulton County 776 Gainesville City 661 Gilmer County 662 Glascock County 663 Glynn County 664 Gordon County 665 Grady County 666 Greene County 667 Gwinnett County 668 Habersham County 669 Hall County 670 Hancock County 671 Haralson County 672 Harris County 673 Hart County 674 Heard County 675 Henry County 676 Houston County

Connections for Classrooms Final Report

Tech, 1, 2, 3 Tech, 1, 2 Tech, 1, 2, 3 Tech, 1, 2 Tech, 2, 3
1, 2, 3 Tech, 1, 2, 3
Tech
Tech, 1, 2, 3 Tech, 1, 2 Tech, 2, 3 Tech, 1, 2 Tech, 3, 4 Tech, 1, 2 Tech, 1, 2 Tech, 1, 2, 3
1, 2 Tech, 1, 2 Tech, 2
2, 3 Tech, 3 Tech, 1, 2 Tech, 3 Tech, 1, 2

$440,171.50 $126,230.65 $2,301,204.00 $532,175.45 $1,360,697.20 $113,363.00 $3,356,951.60 $19,000.00 $210,718.70 $90,244.00 $461,480.00 $515,855.50 $275,322.13 $219,098.70 $1,986,602.50 $435,019.86 $742,652.60 $57,562.02 $89,115.76 $228,195.00 $68,462.00 $259,198.00 $1,313,920.00 $596,208.50

$369,916.33 $119,817.01 $1,353,838.39 $514,644.30 $1,350,827.46 $86,085.72 $2,686,420.39
$0.00 $191,053.01 $84,504.00 $380,339.26 $337,892.41 $257,351.42 $182,952.30 $1,727,793.00 $408,324.58 $727,972.52 $28,174.20 $76,462.81 $217,030.49 $68,462.00 $201,631.72 $891,377.22 $510,662.52

$70,255.17 $6,413.64 $947,365.61 $17,531.15 $9,869.74 $27,277,28 $670,531.21 $19,000.00 $19,665.69 $5,740.00 $81,140.74 $177,963.09 $17,970.71 $36,146.40 $258,809.50 $26,695.28 $14,680.08 $29,387.82 $12,652.95 $11,164.51
$0.00 $57,566.28 $422,542.78 $85,545.98

$0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
18

677 Irwin County 678 Jackson County 679 Jasper County 680 Jeff Davis County 779 Jefferson City 681 Jefferson County 682 Jenkins County 683 Johnson County 684 Jones County 685 Lamar County 686 Lanier County 687 Laurens County 688 Lee County 689 Liberty County 690 Lincoln County 691 Long County 692 Lowndes County 693 Lumpkin County 694 Macon County 695 Madison County 781 Marietta City 696 Marion County 697 McDuffie County 698 McIntosh County

Connections for Classrooms Final Report

3 Tech, 1, 2 Tech, 1, 2 Tech, 1, 2 Tech, 2 Tech, 1, 2, 4
Tech Tech Tech, 1, 2, 3 Tech, 1, 2 Tech, 2 ,4 Tech, 1, 4
3
Tech, 2, 3 Tech, 2, 3 Tech, 2, 3 Tech, 2 Tech, 1, 2 Tech, 1, 2, 3
1, 2, 4 Tech

$51,240.00 $313,823.70 $162,687.51 $491,971.90 $56,070.13 $175,389.72 $19,000.00 $19,000.00 $226,310.45 $369,723.55 $131,386.00 $1,757,781.69 $377,040.00
$0.00 $0.00 $109,557.81 $301,270.60 $58,525.02 $32,549.67 $371,649.00 $613,867.18 $0.00 $660,069.48 $19,000.00

$34,123.20 $313,823.70 $143,775.55 $454,770.19 $46,976.00 $134,252.99 $18,899.90 $19,000.00 $148,860.30 $284,292.40 $118,423.47 $1,718,247.99 $271,158.22
$0.00 $0.00 $55,269.53 $282,279.79 $58,521.18 $32,549.67 $371,601.41 $505,985.04 $0.00 $627,647.76 $18,597.85

$17,116.80 $0.00
$18,911.96 $37,201.71 $9,094.13 $41,136.73
$100.10 $0.00
$77,450.15 $85,431.15 $12,962.53 $39,533.70 $105,881.78
$0.00 $0.00 $54,288.28 $18,990.81 $3.84 $0.00 $47.59 $107,882.14 $0.00 $32,421.72 $402.15

$0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0,00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
19

699 Meriwether County 700 Miller County 701 Mitchell County 702 Monroe County 703 Montgomery County 704 Morgan County 705 Murray County 706 Muscogee County 707 Newton County 708 Oconee County 709 Oglethorpe County 710 Paulding County 711 Peach County 784 Pelham City 712 Pickens County 713 Pierce County 714 Pike County 715 Polk County 716 Pulaski County 717 Putnam County 718 Quitman County 719 Rabun County 720 Randolph County 721 Richmond County

Connections for Classrooms Final Report

Tech, 2 ,4 Tech, 2 Tech, 2 ,4 Tech, 2, 3
2, 3 Tech, 1, 2 Tech, 2 Tech, 2 Tech, 1, 2 Tech, 2, 3 Tech, 2, 3
Tech, 1, 2, 3 Tech, 1, 4
1, 2 Tech, 2 Tech, 1, 2 Tech, 3 Tech, 2 Tech, 1, 2
1, 2 Tech 1, 2 Tech, 1, 2, 4 Tech, 1, 2, 3

$178,472.17 $27,722.65 $113,590.00 $35,505.80 $65,175.79 $303,402.50 $247,915.00 $1,015,810.00 $917,118.50 $352,423.65 $83,799.25 $2,283,796.20 $1,335,645.86 $93,683.50 $147,160.00 $171,018.60 $169,300.00 $248,575.00 $382,803.95 $381,027.54 $19,000.00 $80,433.50 $78,458.38 $1,292,030.60

$157,798.53 $27,576.45 $95,178.73 $35,505.80 $14,439.63 $247,609.30 $226,704.93 $694,193.33 $835,336.61 $274,440.15 $68,300.69 $2,195,522.23 $1,114,939.73 $91,026.02 $146,891.82 $124,870.15 $154,389.73 $241,989.41 $381,151.35 $378,288.66 $17,953.16 $54,538.28 $59,458.38 $1,021,577.18

$20,673.64 $146.20
$18,411.27 $0.00
$50,736.16 $55,793.20 $21,210.07 $321,616.67 $81,781.89 $77,983.50 $15,498.56 $88,273.97 $220,706.13 $2,657.48
$268.18 $46,148.45 $14,910.27 $6,585.59 $1,652.60 $2,738.88 $1,046.84 $25,895.22 $19,000.00 $270,453.42

$0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
20

Connections for Classrooms Final Report

722 785 723 724 7830410 7830103 7820212 7830610 7830310 7820412 7820120
7820612 7820512 7830110 7820108 7820110 7830210 7820119 7820121
725 786 726 7991893 7991894

Rockdale County Rome City Schley County Screven County SCSC-Atlanta Heights Charter School SCSC-CCAT School SCSC-Cherokee Charter Academy SCSC-Coweta Charter Academy SCSC-Fulton Leadership Academy SCSC-Georgia Connections Academy SCSC-Georgia Cyber Academy SCSC-Ivy Prep Academy at Kirkwood for Girls School SCSC-Ivy Prep Young Men's Leadership Academy SCSC-Ivy Preparatory Academy School SCSC-Mountain Education Center SCSC-Odyssey School SCSC-Pataula Charter Academy SCSC-Provost Academy, Georgia SCSC-Utopian Academy for the Arts Charter School Seminole County Social Circle City Spalding County State Schools-Atlanta Area School for the Deaf State Schools-Georgia Academy for the Blind

Tech, 2, 3 Tech, 1, 2 Tech, 1, 2 Tech, 1, 2
Tech, 2
Tech, 1, 2, 3
Tech Tech, 1, 2
3

$566,260.00 $328,088.00 $164,478.91 $214,015.55
$0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $24,145.15 $0.00 $0.00
$0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $158,501.07 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $19,000.00 $398,149.40 $3,915.00 $0.00

$372,859.17 $312,863.29 $155,684.83 $193,618.00
$0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $18,801.12 $0.00 $0.00
$0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $150,333.95 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $18,972.00 $323,061.15 $2,710.81 $0.00

$193,400.83 $15,224.71 $8,794.08 $20,397.55
$0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $5,344.03 $0.00 $0.00
$0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $8,167.12 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $28.00 $75,088.25 $1,204.19 $0.00

$0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
$0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
21

Connections for Classrooms Final Report

7991895 727 728 729 730 731 732 733 734 735 736 745 789 737 738 739 740 791 741 742 743 744 792 793

State Schools-Georgia School for the Deaf Stephens County Stewart County Sumter County Talbot County Taliaferro County Tattnall County Taylor County Telfair County Terrell County Thomas County Thomaston-Upson County Thomasville City Tift County Toombs County Towns County Treutlen County Trion City Troup County Turner County Twiggs County Union County Valdosta City Vidalia City

1 Tech, 1, 2, 3
Tech Tech, 1, 2, 4
Tech 2
Tech, 1, 3, 4 Tech, 2 ,4 Tech, 3, 4 Tech, 1, 2, 4 Tech, 1, 3 Tech, 4 Tech, 3 Tech, 1, 2
2 Tech Tech, 4 Tech, 1, 2 Tech
3 Tech, 1, 2 Tech, 1, 2, 3 Tech, 1, 2

$30,958.41 $356,082.29 $19,000.00 $789,833.19 $19,000.00
$4,005.00 $971,295.08 $153,079.06 $102,180.25 $186,259.67 $401,960.48 $322,116.27 $81,820.00 $427,130.00 $12,268.12 $19,000.00 $101,818.00 $102,647.13 $82,000.00
$0.00 $20,932.50 $115,836.96 $218,789.80 $179,659.00

$25,280.88 $261,690.04
$0.00 $427,595.83 $15,784.00
$0.00 $950,761.87 $138,517.03 $100,576.65 $178,598.69 $401,520.17 $322,098.86 $62,834.33 $413,982.04 $12,268.12 $19,000.00 $101,790.00 $82,755.37 $60,000.00
$0.00 $15,185.48 $113,036.96 $207,323.09 $150,759.39

$5,677.53 $94,392.25 $19,000.00 $362,237.36 $3,216.00 $4,005.00 $20,533.21 $14,562.03 $1,603.60 $7,660.98
$440.31 $17.41 $18,985.67 $13,147.96 $0.00 $0.00 $28.00 $19,891.76 $22,000.00 $0.00 $5,747.02 $2,800.00 $11,466.71 $28,899.61

$0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
22

746 Walker County 747 Walton County 748 Ware County 749 Warren County 750 Washington County 751 Wayne County 752 Webster County 753 Wheeler County 754 White County 755 Whitfield County 756 Wilcox County 757 Wilkes County 758 Wilkinson County 759 Worth County

Connections for Classrooms Final Report

2 2 Tech, 1, 2 Tech, 1, 2, 4 Tech, 1, 2, 4 Tech, 1, 2, 3, 4 1, 2 Tech, 2 ,4 Tech, 1, 2, 3 Tech, 2 Tech, 1, 2 Tech, 1, 2
Tech, 1, 2, 3

$264,030.00 $60,189.00 $815,317.16 $104,577.15 $346,085.42 $338,424.10 $25,932.79 $69,003.30 $144,975.54 $475,150.00 $55,196.65 $321,736.00
$0.00 $225,621.81

$155,986.70 $60,189.00 $557,590.69 $94,699.78 $300,970.66 $338,312.40 $17,110.29 $69,003.30 $129,025.00 $347,880.88 $55,166.65 $292,762.40
$0.00 $173,406.64

$108,043.30 $0.00
$257,726.47 $9,877.37 $45,114.76 $111.70 $8,822.50 $0.00 $15,950.54
$127,269.12 $30.00
$28,973.60 $0.00
$52,215.17

$0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00

23

Connections for Classrooms Final Report

Appendix B: Round 5 Award List

Applicants scoring 50 or higher received full funding.

District ID
602 603 605 609 610 612 613 614 616 617 618 624 632 634 635 637 639 643 645 653 654 655 657 661 662 665 668 680 681 682 684

District Name
Atkinson County Bacon County Baldwin County Ben Hill County Berrien County Bleckley County Brantley County Brooks County Bulloch County Burke County Butts County Charlton County Clinch County Coffee County Colquitt County Cook County Crawford County Decatur County Dodge County Emanuel County Evans County Fannin County Floyd County Gilmer County Glascock County Grady County Habersham County Jeff Davis County Jefferson County Jenkins County Jones County

Round 5 District Grant Awards

Priority

Amount Awarded/Used

Priority 1-E-Rate Local Match Funding for Network Infrastructure Priority 2-Network Infrastructure Priority 3-Digital Devices (Computers/Tablets)
Priority 3 Priority 3 Priority 3 Priority 3 Priority 3 Priority 3 Priority 1 Priority 2 Priority 1 Priority 3 Priority 3 Priority 3 Priority 3 Priority 3 Priority 1 Priority 3 Priority 3 Priority 3 Priority 3 Priority 3 Priority 3 Priority 3 Priority 3 Priority 2 Priority 3 Priority 3 Priority 3 Priority 3 Priority 1 Priority 2 Priority 2

Maximum allowable is E-Rate match amount (Priority 1) OR $50
per student (Priority 2/3)
$ 80,100.00/80,100.00 $ 101,800.00/101,800.00 $ 246,700.00/246,652.00 $ 150,300.00/150,300.00 $ 151,000.00/150,800.00 $ 119,450.00/119,250.00 $ 14,165.53/7,402.01 $ 101,500.00/101,500.00 $ 356,200.00/116,400.00 $ 196,600.00/196,582.00 $ 165,750.00/165,750.00 $ 81,300.00/81,300.00 $ 37,250.00/37,152.00 $ 84,800.00/84,786.75 $ 36,045.00/30,456.76 $ 151,915.50/151,915.50 $ 81,050.00/81,050.00 $ 244,950.00/244,787.76 $ 151,450.00/150,863.70 $ 204,100.00/204,100.00 $ 89,500.00/89,500.00 $ 146,550.00/146,337.60 $ 466,650.00/466,650.00 $ 198,980.50/198,381.96 $ 25,350.00/25,349.77 $ 221,500.00/221,500.00 $ 333,600.00/333,600.00 $ 147,450.00/147,450.00 $ 57,251.80/48,809.15 $ 54,000.00/54,000.00 $ 78,550.00/77,548.36

24

Connections for Classrooms Final Report

District ID
686 687 691 692 693 695 697 703 009 711 716 717 723 724 728 729 734 735 736 738 740 744 746 749 751 756
891 Total

District Name
Lanier County Laurens County Long County Lowndes County Lumpkin County Madison County McDuffie County Montgomery County Oglethorpe County Peach County Pulaski County Putnam County Schley County Screven County Stewart County Sumter County Telfair County Terrell County Thomas County Toombs County Treutlen County Union County Walker County Warren County Wayne County Wilcox County Dept. of Juvenile Justice Total

Round 5 District Grant Awards

Priority

Amount Awarded/Used

Priority 1-E-Rate Local Match Funding for Network Infrastructure Priority 2-Network Infrastructure Priority 3-Digital Devices (Computers/Tablets)
Priority 3 Priority 3 Priority 1 Priority 1 Priority 3 Priority 2 Priority 2 Priority 3 Priority 1 Priority 3 Priority 3 Priority 2 Priority 3 Priority 3 Priority 3 Priority 3 Priority 3 Priority 3 Priority 3 Priority 3 Priority 2 Priority 1 Priority 3 Priority 3 Priority 3 Priority 2

Maximum allowable is E-Rate match amount (Priority 1) OR $50
per student (Priority 2/3)

$ 66,990.00/66,970.00

$ 307,900.00/307,900.00

$ 47,314.61/46,354.84

$ 108,714.00/108,714.00

$ 191,200.00/191,200.00

$ 214,514.66/214,454.16

$ 191,400.00/130,612.27

$ 43,350.00/43,350.00

$ 12,707.00/12,536.52

$ 178,300.00/178,160.55

$ 62,150.00/61,878.23

$ 140,900.00/140,900.00

$ 62,800.00/62,755.50

$ 111,800.00/111,711.83

$ 22,300.00/21,964.00

$ 203,300.00/203,127.12

$ 81,250.00/81,250.00

$ 64,300.00/64,260.00

$ 83,490.00/83,490.00

$ 138,950.00/138,950.00

$ 34,952.00/32,547.00

$

9,681.00/9,042.00

$ 275,000.00/274,129.40

$ 25,312.00/25,312.00

$ 255,750.00/255,750.00

$ 55,409.81/55,409.81

Priority 2

$ 1,500,000.00/1,340,745.80 $ 9,231,293.41/8,575,460.85

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Connections for Classrooms Final Report

District/ School ID

District Name

7610515
7610201
7610212 6440315 6480407 6600215 6660109
7830618
7830613
7830210 Total

Atlanta Public Schools Atlanta Public Schools Atlanta/Fulton County
DeKalb County
Douglas County
Fulton County
Greene County State Charter School State Charter School State Charter School

Round 5 School Grant Awards

School Name
Charles R. Drew Charter School Jr/Sr Academy Charles R. Drew Charter School Elementary KIPP Metro Atlanta Schools Tapestry Public Charter School Brighten Academy Chattahoochee Hills Charter School Lake Oconee Academy School for Arts Infused Learning (SAIL) Brookhaven Innovation Academy Pataula Charter Academy

Priority
Priority 1-E-Rate Local Match Funding for Network Infrastructure Priority 2-Network Infrastructure Priority 3-Digital Devices (Computers/Tablets)

Amount Awarded/Used
Maximum allowable is E-Rate match amount (Priority 1) OR $50 per student (Priority 2/3)

Priority 1

$ 26,900.00/26,900.00

Priority 1

$ 19,000.00/19,000.00

Priority 2 Priority 1 Priority 3 Priority 3 Priority 2

$ 182,600.00/0.00 $ 10,279.80/7,852.20 $ 38,950.00/38,885.00 $ 23,400.00/23,400.00 $ 44,250.00/44,250.00

Priority 3

$ 21,500.00/21,200.28

Priority 3

$ 23,891.12/23,891.12

Priority 3

$ 27,750.00/27,750.00 $ 418,520.92/233,128.60

NOTE: Appendices A and B indicate the following Connections for Classrooms (Rounds 1 through 5) awardee numbers:
160 local school districts (including the Department of Juvenile Justice) 2 state schools 7 local charter schools 5 State Charter Commission Schools
Appendix A also includes 14 local school districts that received funding from only the FY2014 $7 million GaDOE technical grant (Tech) that preceded the Connections for Classrooms Grant Program.
Please note that Appendices A and B do not include the Round 5 grants made to assist online virtual learning during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 as described previously in this report.

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Connections for Classrooms Final Report
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