Whitehall High Receives Funds from Emergency Connectivity Program

State Superintendent Elsie Arntzen is pleased to announce that 11 Montana schools have received a total of $853,554.16 through the Emergency Connectivity Fund Program as promised by Congressional action through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. Today the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced that a total of 3,678 applicants nationwide received $1.2 billion, including District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico.

The following Montana schools and districts received emergency funds between $2,518.20 and $499,956:

· Yaak Elementary School

· Fromberg School District

· Red Lodge School District

· Billings School District

· Great Falls Public Schools

· Gallatin Gateway School District

· Manhattan School District

· Whitehall Public Schools

· Florence-Carlton School District

· Valley View School District

· Upper West Shore School District

“I appreciate that this program recognizes Montana’s rural and unique nature of our public schools from 5 students that are learning in Yaak Elementary to over 17,000 students seated in the Billings Public School District,” said Superintendent Elsie Arntzen. She continued, “Connecting students with technology enhances equal opportunities for learning.”

This funding will provide students with devices and broadband access to connect with online resources due to COVID. This is the first of two rounds of funding from the FCC. The second round of applications will begin September 28th through October 13th. Application resources can be found at https://www.emergencyconnectivityfund.org/.

Whitehall received $31,665 from the program, which will be used for Chromebooks for high school students, according to Whitehall Superintendent Hannah Nieskens.