Students at Fridley High School and Fridley Middle School received new Chromebooks this week, thanks to a federal grant awarded to the Fridley Public Schools Technology Department.

The district received $681,982 to purchase 1,705 new Chromebooks and an additional $431,280 for hot spots and data-enabled plans for the devices from the Federal Communications Commission’s Emergency Connectivity Fund. The ECF is a program designed to help schools provide the tools and services students need to close the “homework gap” – barriers students face in connecting to the internet when working on homework assignments away from school.

The technology department worked with district vendors T-Mobile and Premier Wireless to apply for funding for hot spots and data-enabled Chromebooks. The grant allows the district to continue supporting 92 hot spots received earlier in the COVID-19 pandemic using ECF funding.

Technology staff, along with T-Mobile and Premier Wireless team members, distributed the new Chromebooks in the FHS media center and FMS multipurpose room, allowing students to come throughout the school day to exchange their old Chromebooks for the new ones. 

The tablets come equipped with no-cost data plans, enabling students to connect to the internet without a Wi-Fi connection – a feature that will make it easier for them to access their lessons and complete schoolwork. Additionally, the data service has the same content filtering and guidelines around inappropriate websites and content as students have experienced on their other Chromebooks.

“With the use of Google Classroom as the district’s platform for instruction, students need the capability to perform their work using a Chromebook to access Google Classroom anywhere at any time,” said Yvonne Anderson, director of technology for Fridley Public Schools.