Scott schools receive $500k grant

December 8, 2005

HUNTSVILLE — The Scott County School System has been awarded a major Distance Learning Grant, school officials learned Monday.

The grant, issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and totaling $500,000, was officially announced Tuesday by the USDA. The funds provided by the grant will be used for videoconferencing technology.

“Located in the remote foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, Tennessee’s Scott County Schools struggle with providing basic education to students due to low faculty populations, poverty, and other educational barriers that inhibit innovative content delivery for students,” a press release states. “That may be about to change.”

The funding will help the Scott County Schools bridge the “digital divide” with the videoconferencing capabilities, which will bring everything from centralized algebra classes to unique professional development for teachers in all seven of the district’s schools.

The technology will also help provide to each of the schools access to a wide range of content provided by the likes of the District Professional Development Center, the Museum of Scott County, Roane State Community College and Vanderbilt University’s “Vandy Virtual School.”

Scott County was one of only two USDA Rural Development Distance Learning and Telemedicine program grants awarded in Tennessee, the other being for telemedicine in upper East Tennessee. Across the nation, 79 applicants were approved for the grants.

The technology supporting this program includes Tandberg videoconferencing units, which have wireless capability, portability and connect to a wide range of display devices. The technology will integrate with the school system’s existing technology infrastructure, and also with that of other regional entities to provide the community with access to the distance-learning opportunities. Tandberg is a leader in providing visual communication technology to support distance learning.

The Distance Learning and Telemedicine Program is designed to enhance educational and health care services in rural America. This year, 227 grant applications were received by the program and 162 were found to meet program eligibility requirements. The 79 successful applicants were selected from that list.

newsroom@ihoneida.com

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