The Allentown School District is getting nearly $10 million in federal money to help continue education during the pandemic. As WLVR’s Staci Inez reports, district officials say it will be a big help for students in this time of need.
Congresswoman Susan Wild says the new money for Allentown comes from the CARES Act, which earmarked 13 billion dollars nationally for education.
“Since Allentown School District serves some of our most vulnerable students, it makes sense that they get fast and flexible aid that allows them to get their students through this crisis and support their staff as they plan for a new school year of unforeseen challenges,” said Congresswoman Wild.
Wild says the money will go towards purchasing new technology the district desperately needs to support distance learning. Allentown superintendent Thomas Parker says the district's two biggest challenges right now are having enough devices for students and keeping students in underserved communities connected online.
“The COVID situation has illuminated something for us that we knew existed, but I don’t think it was as visibly prevalent as it is now and that’s the difference between the haves and the have nots in the commonwealth.”
Parker says the district already handed out 5,000 devices to students in need and they recently purchased 8 thousand more - which are a mix of chromebooks and ipads.
But with the school year nearly over, Parker says he’s unsure what plans, if any, are for continuing education into the summer.