Polk County Public Schools, Staff
Call the District's Technology Grant Office Immediately!
Dell Griffin Quary
Analyst: eRate/Grant Developer
(863) 647-4253
Funds that are available from federal, state, local, corporate, private or other agencies given for a specific purpose and requiring some form of compliance.
Grants featuring technology are coordinated by the applicant school, department or individual, with the School Technology Services Department. The School Technology Services Department reviews all technology grant proposals for technological compliance and consistency with School Board policy. Copies of both the grant guidelines and the full grant proposal are filed in the School Technology Services Department. School Technology Services submits School Board agenda items for technology grants.
Other grants are coordinated with the district Grants Department, which reviews grant proposals for consistency with School Board policy before forwarding agenda items for School Board approval. For each application, the district Grants Department keeps a file of the grant guidelines and proposal. Grants are submitted for board approval upon completion of the applications.
The voluntary transfer of property from one individual or entity to another, especially charitable, without an expectation of a return.
Principals may accept cash donations of less than $500 without School Board approval. Internal Accounts cash donations may be deposited directly into Internal Accounts. Donations of tangible property whose value is less than $750 may also be accepted without School Board approval. Any cash donation of $500 or greater or tangible property donation of $750 or greater must be approved by the School Board in order to be accepted. Schools or departments receiving donations of cash or property in excess of the amounts referred to above must complete the PCSB Acceptance of Donations Form and an eAgenda item. Hard copies of the Acceptance of Donations form are not required by the Finance Department, unless accompanied by a check for deposit into Budgeted Accounts.
The technology grant office staff will be responsible for collaborating with the finance department to ensure that all grant funds are spent and will monitor the timely submission of program reporting to funding agencies.
The overall purpose of the Polk County Assistive Technology Outreach Program is to increase access to learning and academic achievement for many of our exceptional student education (ESE) students through the use of communication devices and assistive technology. This program is a three prong program to expand the accessibility of assistive technology to the students in our schools. The first phase of the proposal includes the purchase of augmentative communication devices to be included in evaluation kits for several evaluation teams throughout our county, the second prong would create a teacher/parent lab where visual supports can be created to help students with special needs in their classroom setting and at home, and the third prong of the request is to fund the purchase of additional software and assistive technology to support our students who are struggling readers. The program will serve primarily ESE students, pre-school through age twenty-two, from throughout the Polk County school district. A county-wide as well as six school-based assessment teams will receive Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) evaluation kits for use during evaluations with their students. The county wide Local Augmentative and Assistive Technology Team (LAT) evaluates seventy to one hundred new students each year. Additionally, they continue to follow previously identified students to determine if their supports are still appropriate.
The Enhancing Education Through Technology (E2T2) Grant is part of the "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001". The purpose of the funding is to: "Improve student academic achievement through the use of technology in elementary and secondary schools, to assist every student in crossing the digital divide by ensuring that every student is technologically literate by the time the student finished the eighth grade, to encourage the effective integration of technology resources and systems with training and curriculum development to establish research-based instructional methods that can be widely implemented as best practices."
As part of the Enhancing Education Through Technology initiative a portion of the E2T2 funding will focus on the State Reading Initiative. The District intends to do this through the use of technology to deliver reading instruction and to enhance FCAT Preparation. The E2T2 grant helps fund the Model Tech Teacher Program and provides Model Technology Team package for approximately seventy-seven model technology classrooms throughout the District.
For additional information see the Grant Projected Completion Timelines:
The technology Literacy Challenge Fund grant was offered to Florida School districts by the Florida Department of Education as a five-year initiative launched by Congress to upgrade and provide equity in school technology. The congressional initiative for this funding was to help ensure that every student in every school will be technological literate by the dawn of the 21st century. The technology Literacy Challenge Fund was administered by the U. S. Education Department under Title III, Part A, Subpart 2 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). The state funds were divided into three competitions: TLCF-3 for individual schools or groups of schools to provide 1) teacher training and support they need to help all students learn through computers and through information superhighways, and 2) effective, engaging software and online resources to be an integral part of every school curriculum. This grant helped to fund model technology classrooms throughout the District.