Memo Text
In the fall of 2020, the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) worked with AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon to provide CIPA compliant hotspots to Arkansas schools. Thanks to Governor Hutchinson’s generous allocation of $10 million from the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) fund, over 20,000 hotspots were distributed to support the continuation of learning for both the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years. Schools and districts are encouraged to review key points for year 2 of the project:
- Hotspots are intended to assist students with the greatest need.
- Data plans have been pre-paid through the summer of 2022 (specific end dates vary by vendor).
- The DESE will not request the return of hotspots at the end of the project. Devices will be considered the property of the district.
- Additional hotspots will not be ordered by the DESE, although districts are free to contact vendors to purchase devices with district funds.
For a district point of contact, the number of hotspots delivered, or for any other questions, contact Jeff Killingsworth (jeff.killingsworth@ade.arkansas.gov). The original project description can be found within Commissioner’s Memo RT-21-004.