Grant Summary
The San Diego Foundation has provided a grant to the Classroom of the Future Foundation in the amount of $500,000 for the purpose of “Supporting San Diegans in need as a result of the COVID-19 crisis.” This grant is made in support of the Classroom of the Future Foundation COVID-19 Public Education Response Fund to address the digital equity gap that is halting access to education for San Diego County students in the wake of COVID-19.
As of 9/4/2020, based on $2 million in funding that has become available for connectivity from Supervisor Nathan Fletcher, we’ve shifted the new purpose of this grant to provide DEVICES to students in need throughout San Diego.
Grant Deliverables
- Support San Diego County students with a focus on the highest-need districts in North, East, and South County and vulnerable populations including students enrolled in Juvenile Court & Community Schools, migrant education, and those with special education needs.
- Provide devices (Chromebooks, tablets, iPads, laptops, desktops, smartphones) to students in need of distance learning resources throughout San Diego.
- Provide Chromebooks to 250 students from tribal communities in rural school districts.
Application for Grant Funds
- Complete the online application form below by our deadline of Monday, September 28, 2020 at 11:59 PM Pacific Time.
Application Review Process
- Our committee will review all applications by Thursday, October 1, 2020.
- Applications will be prioritized by families with the highest need, based on Free or Reduced Price Meal (FRPM) data.
- Applications will also consider the percentage of students with disabilities data.
- Priority will also be given to families with two or more students in the home.
Recommendations
As schools have moved into distance learning, the SDCOE has received multiple reports of older and/or underpowered mobile computing devices not meeting the resource requirements for high-quality video conferencing (such as Zoom) as well as many current online platforms and applications. Chromebooks, in particular, have been found to not have enough RAM, lack current Wi-Fi chips/radios, or have underpowered CPUs.
While we encourage schools, charters, and districts to select the manufacturer and device the best suits their own learning environments, we would suggest considering the following technical specifications, at a minimum:
- Intel: 9th or 10th Generation Intel Core Processors
- Intel: i-series processor (i3 or above)
- AMD: 7th Gen A4 or A6 processor
- Minimum 8 GB memory (RAM)
- Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) or better (preferably 2X2 transmit/receive streams, or better)
- HD capable webcam
APPLICATION FOR COVID-19 FUNDS FOR DEVICES
- Please provide your current needs for Fall 2020.