INDIANAPOLIS - The Indiana General Assembly has again approved monies to help area school districts obtain the latest technology available for their libraries.

According to Sen. Kent Adams, (R-Bremen), the Senate Budget Committee approved an additional $26 million Friday for technology plan grants for districts across the state.

"This is not a new program, simply an expansion of the one we started back in 1995," Adams said.

Tippecanoe Valley, Whitco and Triton school corporations have already received the technology grant, according to Mary Jo Erdberg, of the department of education. They were as follows:

Tippecanoe Valley - $219,050

Whitco - $ 36,248

Triton - $109,400

She added, that Warsaw Commusnity Schools are scheduled for a $600,000 grant in the 2000-2001 budget cycle, however that appropriation has not yet been made.

With the expansion of the technology grants, qualifying school districts can receive $100 per student to implement their technology plan, he added.

The funds can be used to upgrade existing equipment or purchase new computer equipment and software and the training related to technology. Salaries for technical program management and technical support and for wiring networks and Internet access, are also eligible for state assistance, Adams said.

"Local matching funds are not required. However, the law provides that in the year a district receives a technology plan grant, it must spend no less on technology than the average of the previous six years," he said.

Additionally, the General Assembly has allocated $6 million in grant funds in the 2000-2001 budget cycle for the purchase of library books and other printed material.

"This represents a 50 percent increase over the $4 million in the 1997-1999 budget for library materials," Adams said.

Under the grant program, the Indiana Department of Education will match each local dollar spent - up to $6.20 per student - on printed library materials, according to Suellen Reed, state superintendent of public education.

"The local matching funds can come from the school district's general fund, as well as from certain federally funded programs and donations from foundations, parents, organizations or fund raisers," Reed said.

Warsaw and Triton schools corporations have received $39,128 and $7,242 respectively, in matching library material grants, according to Janet Harvey of the Indiana Department of Education. Wawasee has been awarded $22,078, but those funds have yet to be distributed.

Tippecanoe Valley is eligible for $13,857 and Whitko is eligible for $12,865, but neither school corporation has submitted a grant request.

"All they have to do is provide verification of the matching funds and they'll be awarded those amounts," Harvey said.

School libraries throughout Indiana have added 226,000 during the first two years of the grant program, she added. Grant applications are now being accepted by the department. School corporations must spend the state grants and their local matching funds on printed materials for the libraries by June 30, 2001. [[In-content Ad]]