[Mail_supt] Reopening Planning and Support

Fri Jul 10 11:29:25 EDT 2020

Good morning!
A quick update on the availability of Chromebooks...
I've learned today that all of the 11 inch Chromebook stocks are now backordering through the end of the calendar year.  I'm am continuing to search for anything available.  There is some availability for 14 inch Chromebooks and other premium models.  I've also found that there is a limited stock of 11 inch Dell Chromebooks available but only with an enormous markup.  If you were willing to pay $245 per device and were also willing to order today, I can try to get these.
Thanks,
Thor

Thor Sage
Executive Director
Miami Valley Educational Computer Association
937-767-1468  x3101
[http://www.mveca.org/images/logo.gif]<http://www.mveca.org/>       [i] <https://www.linkedin.com/company-beta/3947840/> [t] <https://twitter.com/mvecarcog> [f] <https://www.facebook.com/MVECA-707401659416692/>
Not-for-profit Technology Services for Education and Local Governments

From: Thor Sage
Sent: Wednesday, July 8, 2020 12:17 PM
To: Thor Sage <sage at mveca.org>
Subject: Reopening Planning and Support

Good afternoon!
I know this is a terribly difficult time and that you are all working diligently to plan for the upcoming school year in the wake of the epidemic.  If you need assistance from MVECA on anything at all, please contact me directly to discuss.  Here are a few items of interest.

1.       MVECA and other ITCs have been working with ODE to develop a list of eligible technology expenditures for CARES Act money that is yet to be distributed.  Our recommendations were broad, ranging from residential broadband to online curriculum.  Unfortunately, however, I have not seen the final list or any guidance on when these funds will be released.  I do know that in addition to ODE held funds, there is an additional 100 million on the table that is currently being discussed.  We expect to know much more in the next week or two.  Many of you may know more than we do on this.

2.       MVECA can assist your school district with procurement of home broadband and hotspot services as long as the school is the billed entity for the service.  We have been in contact with multiple providers and have found that most (with T-Mobile being the possible exception) have been unwilling to create special pricing structures without volume commitments.  If you are contemplating significant home broadband service purchases, we would be happy to try to lump the volume of multiple districts together in order to try to negotiate for lower pricing.  We are in the process of developing a comprehensive list of providers and their service offerings.

3.       There is still no word from the FCC on whether or not home broadband will be on the eligible services list for Erate discounts for next year.

4.       The lead times on Chromebook orders are incredibly long.  MVECA has been working to try to procure anything that's readily available.  We know that we can order up to 500 Lenovo Chromebooks and receive them this summer.  We have leads from other vendors on HP and Samsung devices as well.  If you need procurement assistance with student devices, please contact us right away.

5.       MVECA can provide Zoom and WebEx licensing along with any sort of classroom technology associated with delivering content to remote learners.  If you need anything, please let us know.

6.       MVECA has installed a significant number of outdoor rated WiFi access points intended to provide service in large parking lots.  If you need to create drive-up WiFi zones, we can help.

7.       Be sure to check out the Ohio Distance Learning Association website at http://www.ohiodla.org/ as you consider possible distance learning collaborations with other districts.  MVECA pays for this membership for all of our districts.

8.       A list of additional remote learning resources and information can be found here https://www.mveca.org/RemoteLearningResources.aspx .

9.       One byproduct of the epidemic and the increase in unemployment rates is that we are getting more applicants to respond to job postings right now.  If you need support staffing, MVECA can help with this too.
Again, please don't hesitate to reach out if we can assist with anything.
Thanks,
Thor

Thor Sage
Executive Director
Miami Valley Educational Computer Association
937-767-1468  x3101
[http://www.mveca.org/images/logo.gif]<http://www.mveca.org/>       [i] <https://www.linkedin.com/company-beta/3947840/> [t] <https://twitter.com/mvecarcog> [f] <https://www.facebook.com/MVECA-707401659416692/>
Not-for-profit Technology Services for Education and Local Governments

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