News Release

LARWILL — Whitko Community School Corp. is one of 30 Indiana school districts to receive a broadband grant.

The exact amount of how much the district might receive was not mentioned in a news release from Whitko.

The grant is obtained by the University of Indianapolis’ Center of Excellence in Leadership of Learning (CELL) through the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) Fund. Whitko’s grant along with the others will fund devices and broadband connectivity across nine Education Service Centers and 23 school districts in rural areas across the state as well as support professional development to improve educators’ capacity to provide engaging and effective online instruction.

CELL will partner with the Central Indiana Education Service Center (CIESC) during the next two years to disburse the funds and arrange for training. In addition to providing broadband for rural areas that frequently lack high-speed internet access, $3.3 million in funds will be used to connect families to the internet as well as to buy equipment such as laptops for students and teachers. The additional $1.5 million is supporting professional development for teachers in the 30 local districts.

The $4.8 million awarded to CELL is one of the larger amounts distributed by the State of Indiana from the $61.6 million in GEER funding that the state received from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.