The Hamilton County Department of Education has $12 more million following a vote by county commissioners last week to increase HCDE’s budget. The $12 million coming to schools isn’t all new money, but some is, said Christie Jordan, director of accounting and budgeting for the school system.
She said $6.4 million is federal/state money awarded last year in grants that last longer than 12 months. The bulk of that is Title 1 and special education money the school system regularly receives. And much of the rest of the new money is already slated for specific projects, such as $3.8 million marked to install energy-efficient lighting in all the county’s schools, she said.
But Jordan was enthused about $1.4 million that will go to toward upgrading technology infrastructure systemwide.
“That’s wiring, wireless access points — with these schools, you have to have more than just one wireless access point to have internet access everywhere. This isn’t for devices, but devices aren’t worth much if you can’t connect,” Jordan said.