Connections for Classrooms

Connections for Classrooms is a 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 combines funds from the following two sources:

  • Bond funds appropriated to the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE)
  • State general funds appropriated to the One Georgia Authority at the Department of Community Affairs (DCA). The Governor’s Office of Student Achievement (GOSA) manages the funds.

The program is part of a broader statewide effort to expand classroom high-speed broadband access in response to Governor Deal’s Digital Learning Task Force recommendations as well as the 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 will ensure that all district central offices have 100 megabits per second per school of bandwidth by July 2015. Connections for Classrooms ensures that schools have sufficient network infrastructure to effectively utilize the increased bandwidth at the classroom level.

Over the last three years, the Connections for Classrooms (CFC) Grant Program at the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement (GOSA) has awarded more than $80 million to support school network investment to enable digital learning. Connections for Classrooms (CFC) announced Round 5 of the grant program that will enable eligible districts and schools to upgrade their digital networks or, if additional network upgrades are not needed in the next two years, purchase additional digital devices. Rural, high-need districts, state charter schools, state special schools, and locally authorized charter schools are eligible. Applications will be due on November 15, 2017, and awards will be announced in January 2018.

More information, including grant guidelines, application, timeline, evaluation rubrics, and eligible applications, is available on the Round 5 website.