Blue Ridge Elementary now wireless
The Blue Ridge Elementary wireless project was completed August 28 thanks to a $85,827 E-Rate grant to provide modern technology network equipment to the school which serves 309 elementary students and 217 preschool students. The school now has wireless internet access throughout the interior of the building as well as in the grassy area outside the south facing windows of the building and outside the front entrance. A total of 25 access points were installed.
The grant covered 90 percent of the cost of the project. The district funded the remaining 10 percent, which was approximately $10,000. Blue Ridge qualified for the E-rate grant based on its high percentage of students receiving free or reduced payment meal benefits which range in the area of 90 percent. The district applied for E-rate funding for five schools, but the other four were denied due to lower free and reduced price meal count percentages.
The E-rate program is administered by the Schools and Libraries Division (SLD) of the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC). The program was set up in 1997 when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted a Universal Service Order implementing the Telecommunications Act of 1996.