EPN Board Approves RUS/USDA Grant
EPN Board Approves RUS/USDA Grant
The Education Plus Network (EPN) Board approved the RUS/USDA grant in the amount of $195,487 at the March 26, 2012 meeting. The EPN board is composed of two board members from each of the schools that form the consortium which include Green City, Milan, Novinger, and Putnam County.
The EPN will utilize the matching grant with approximately $200,000 of its own money to replace the technology and equipment for each of the four schools.
The four schools utilize the interactive television system to share classes and teachers. Presently, classes offered over the network include College English, Spanish, College Music, College Health, Physics, Physiology/Anatomy, and College Biology.
This is the third grant the EPN consortium has received since its inception in 1993. At the inception of the EPN consortium, there were only three of these in Missouri with Putnam County, Milan and Green City the only fiber-optic system. The present equipment is approximately 10 years old which is considered obsolete in terms of today’s technology.
The new equipment and programming will allow for more flexibility with its use and couldn’t come at a better time as the existing equipment has been failing. With the budget constraints that schools are facing, the ability to share teachers among the four schools has become increasingly valuable to our students.
Installation of the new equipment and programming is scheduled for June.