Two La Feria Campuses Awarded TEA Technology Lending Program Grant

A regular meeting of the Board of Trustees of La Feria Independent School District was held October 6, 2013 at 6:30 pm. At the meeting it was announced that The Texas Education Agency (TEA) Technology Lending Program Grant has been awarded to two La Feria campuses – Noemi Dominguez Elementary and W. B. Green Jr. High. The program awards grants to Texas public school districts and open-enrollment charters to implement a technology lending program to loan students the equipment necessary to access and use electronic instructional materials. In awarding grants, the TEA will consider the availability of existing equipment to students in the Texas public school district or open-enrollment charter school and other funding available to the school district or open-enrollment charter school. With the Technology Lending Program Grant, districts can move forward with the implementation of electronic instructional materials while ensuring access for students through loaned equipment for learning at school and at home.

The span of the grant is for two years with the awarded amount of the grant being $100,000.00. With this grant, one hundred fifteen laptops, three hundred 64 GB flash drives, and professional development will be provided for the Flipped Classroom Model pedagogy. At the present time, meetings with campus administrative and district staff is occurring ensuring the provisions and assurances are followed as specified in the award.

Parent and student trainings will be a requirement before any hardware is distributed in reference to digital citizenship responsibilities and Technology Lending Agreement signed by students and parent(s). At the Board Meeting on October 6, 2014, the Board of Trustees approved the purchase of 115 laptops with the Technology Lending Program Grant as the funding source. All hardware has been ordered and professional development planning has begun.

Information was also presented to the Board on the Child Nutrition Summer Program. The Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) was established to ensure that children continue to receive nutritious meals when school is not in session. Free meals, that meet Federal nutrition guidelines, are provided to all children 18 years old and under at approved SFSP sites in areas with significant concentrations of low-income children. La Feria ISD served these meals at Sam Houston Elementary, Noemi Dominguez Elementary, and W. B. Green Jr. High during the months of June and July.