Published: June 04, 2009 11:01 pm      

Telecommunications funding benefits W.Va. school systems

Mineral to receive $114,221; Hampshire getting $60,518

KEYSER, W.Va. — The latest round of E-Rate program funding will benefit three area school systems.

The Mineral County school district will receive $114,221 to assist students and community members with Internet access.

Hampshire County schools will receive $60,518, and Pendleton County’s share is $38,095.

Sen. Jay Rockefeller announced a total of $2,146,595 that will be awarded to schools and libraries across the state. This reflects the fourth wave of funding with more to come soon.

Rockefeller co-authored the E-Rate program, which provides discounts on telecommunication services to schools and libraries, 13 years ago. This came at a time when only 14 percent of classrooms were connected to the Internet, and only 5 percent in disadvantaged schools were connected. According to the most recent survey published by the National Center for Education Statistics, the proportion of classrooms with Internet access has grown to 94 percent for all classrooms and 91 percent for disadvantaged classrooms nationwide.

Since the inception of the E-Rate program, West Virginia has received more than $106 million, with more than $7 million this year, to help schools and libraries pay the cost of telecommunications, Internet access and internal connections. A breakdown of West Virginia funding levels for each school and library is available at www.sl.universalservice.org/funding.