GEER grant will help connect families throughout county

Sometimes it pays to do a little digging. On Aug. 19, Gov. Eric Holcomb announced the list of Indiana schools that would benefit from the $61 million the state was allocating as part of the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) Fund.

Missing from the list were any of the four Putnam County Schools.

In order to be eligible for funding, school districts were required to work collaboratively to develop a grant proposal and budget. During the month of July, in a spirit of unity, all four county schools came together to assess their needs and finalize a proposal. In less than two weeks, the fours schools adopted the name #GetConnectedPutnamCounty, sought the aid of Keshia Seitz, director of innovative funding at Five Star Technology, and crafted what they believed was a strong proposal.

On July 16 the requisite materials, including letters of support from Endeavor Communications, Comcast, Parke County REMC, the Putnam County Public Library, Ivy Tech State College, the City of Greencastle, DePauw University, the Putnam County Hospital and the Purdue University Center for Regional Development, were uploaded to the state site and the waiting began.

Everyone involved was disappointed when no Putnam County schools were not listed among the winners.

The fact that the unprecedented show of unity between the four schools had gone unrecognized by the state did not sit well with Greencastle Supt. Jeff Gibboney, so he reached out to the Indiana State Board of Education to find out why the application had been denied and what could have been improved.

As it turned out, the #GetConnectedPutnamCounty proposal had been funded and had inadvertently been left off the original announcement.

After a few follow-up calls, official notice came on Wednesday, Sept. 9. That afternoon, the four Putnam County Schools were notified by the Indiana Department of Education that their application had officially been approved.

The amount allocated to the county schools totals $151,250. That amount will be divided, and each district will receive funds based on the items requested in the original budget.

Funds will be used to purchase 95 student Chromebooks, 300 T-Mobile hotspots, 175 Verizon hotspots and $2,500 worth of outdoor access points, all with a goal of connecting families thar are unable to purchase reliable internet.

Greencastle City Councilor At-Large Jake Widner, a #GetConnectedPutnamCounty member, was quick to draw attention to the successful venture, doing so during Thursday’s Council meeting.

“This partnership between the four county schools, local not-for-profits, internet service providers Endeavor, Comcast and Parke County REMC and the ‘Get Connected Putnam County’ team, is a testament to the strong community we live in where our schools, students and educators are most valued.”

The school districts, along with industry partners at Endeavor Communications, Comcast and Parke County REMC, are currently working on a process for when connectivity devices will be purchased and how those devices will be allocated to families.

Much work remains, but Putnam County families with school-age children will now have the tools to access high-speed internet and complete school work remotely.

In addition to Gibboney, Seitz and Widner, GetConnected Putnam County consists of Bruce Bernhardt and Tona Gardner of South Putnam; Greg Linton of Cloverdale Schools; Jenny French, Cory Hill and C.J. Shields of Greencastle Schools; Annie Burns of Five Star/Cloverdale; Justin Clark of Endeavor; Chad Jenkins of Parke County REMC, Travis Linneweber of DePauw University, Matthew McCelland of the Putnam County Public Library; and Tammy Surber of Five Star/North Putnam/South Putnam.