K-12

In light of an ongoing cyber crime epidemic that’s unlikely to end soon, federal agencies must take action to update policy definitions, increase spending caps and partner with school districts to defend their networks.

Union Township School Corp. in Indiana will invest ESSER III funding in technology such as touchless faucets, urinals and toilets, new HVAC units, Chromebook chargers and a contactless payment system.

By the end of July, the School District of Philadelphia will fit more than 200 buildings with ActivePure Technology purifiers, which purportedly eliminate 99 percent of COVID-19 within three minutes.

A recent EdWeek Research Center survey of 760 teachers and administrators revealed almost half had urgent concerns about their facilities, and 90 percent either somewhat or strongly supported federal investment.

Arizona school districts made use of an API system offered by education research nonprofit Ed-Fi Alliance to identify and assist more than 550,000 students in need of free meals during school closures.

Though many students struggled with remote learning, success stories proved it can be a viable model for some. Now K-12 schools have an opportunity to axe the one-size-fits-all approach and build more flexible options.

The IT staff at Colorado’s Boulder Valley School District conducts annual summer inspections of computers, projectors, phones, audio and other classroom technology to make sure it’s ready when kids return in the fall.

The Georgia district approved $53,717 in 21st Century Community Learning Center grant funds to support after-school programs at three of its elementary schools, as well as summer programming.

The state is trying to recoup more than $150 million from Indiana Virtual School, Indiana Virtual Pathways Academy and related institutions for allegedly inflating their enrollment numbers and other fraud.

The nonprofit EveryoneOn has helped more than 800,000 Americans find low-cost Internet service and digital resources, and its outreach has only become more important for K-12 students with the advent of remote education.

Students at Dayton Public Schools will tune in virtually to a digital manufacturing workshop, hosted by a University of Dayton professor, to learn a critical skill for 21st century manufacturing.

Amid a nationwide rise in cybersecurity crimes over the past year, Joplin Schools, city officials and other public agencies are buying insurance and training staff on best practices to fend off cyber attacks.

Recent legislation that intends to close the digital divide still comes with gaps, as Republicans and telecommunications companies oppose municipal broadband as well as regulations to ensure everyone can afford it.

After learning of a cybersecurity incident in June, Massena Central School District in New York was able to preserve some data by disabling access to its system. District officials are still assessing the damage.

The growing popularity of electronic transactions has led schools to invest in tools like BlueSnap, a digital payment platform that expedites billing for expenses such as meal costs in K-12 and tuition at universities.

Video cameras, Zoom licenses and other purchases that came in handy for snow days became essential during COVID lockdowns, and now schools such as Lincoln Lutheran intend to keep them for conferences and other purposes.

In partnership with the city of Niagara Falls and Niagara Falls Coach Lines, the district will put cameras on the stop-arms of school buses to record and report when vehicles pass them at a stop.

In purchasing the technology adoption vendor EesySoft, the company behind the learning management system Canvas aims to build in-app messaging and dashboards to help educators learn to use and assess new tech tools.