How to use CARES ACT 2 funding to bring your classroom into the future

What is the CARES Act?

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was passed in March of 2020, and aims to provide economic support for American workers, families, and small businesses. It established a budget of over $2 trillion for Americans most impacted by the pandemic.

The original CARES Act requires schools to spend their allocated funding by September 2021, which doesn’t leave much time to waste.

What the CARES Act 2 means for your school

The next round of stimulus benefits for education, referred to as the CARES Act 2, sets aside $82 billion in funding. K-12 schools will receive more than $54 billion, a significantly larger portion of funding than what was distributed as part of the initial CARES Act.

The new stimulus package will be distributed to state education agencies by the U.S. Department of Education, then passed on to local education agencies. Once your application for benefits has been submitted and approved by the USDE, your funding will be distributed.

K-12 schools will have up until September of 2022 to use their share of the $54 billion in funding. This is good news for your school, providing you with additional funding and more time to decide how to allocate it appropriately.

The CARES Act 2 presents the American education sector with an incredible opportunity to invest in technology that will help plan for the safe return of students and teachers, coordinate remote and blended learning, and improve learning experiences for students across the country. The funding can empower educators to level-up their schools and classroom environments, providing teachers with better tools to conduct more engaging lessons, and giving students the opportunity to benefit from up-to-date tech resources.

An opportunity to prepare for reopening with Airtame

If you’re preparing to reopen and looking to create a safer, more engaging school environment for both teachers and students, Airtame is ready to support you. As the most used screen sharing solution by K-12 schools in North America, teachers trust us to improve the quality of their lessons.

If you’re not familiar with the Airtame solution, here’s a quick recap: 

• Wireless screen sharing enables teachers to present ideas and concepts, creating more interactive lessons without needing to be tied to the front of the classroom. It also provides students with the opportunity to share their work with the rest of the class, and develop vital presentation and collaboration skills. Anyone can connect to Airtame quickly and easily from any device, without the need to pass around cables or dongles. Teachers can prevent unwanted streaming or disruption in the classroom with Pincode connect and the moderator tool.
• Utilize digital signage to share important updates, as well as remind teachers and students of health and safety messages. With access to apps like YouTube, Google Slides, Dropbox and Microsoft OneDrive, you can ditch traditional noticeboards and update any number of screens in hallways, cafeterias and reception areas with tailored messages in real-time.
• All-in-one remote device management through Airtame Cloud empowers staff to remotely manage and update any number of Airtame devices, from anywhere. This saves time for staff and reduces maintenance for IT administrators.

Airtame also supports blended learning setups in the classroom. With Airtame, screen sharing can take place alongside a conference call so that everyone can participate, no matter where they’re learning from.

Airtame provides every customer with a dedicated account manager, as well as access to technical support staff, who are on hand to ensure your onboarding and deployment experience is as seamless as possible, whether you’re installing 50 or 5000 Airtame devices.

We know that times are tough right now. That’s why we’ve ramped up our free resources, providing a free downloadable eBook about improving safety within schools with digital signage, access to a free downloadable digital signage template, as well as tailored advice about how to use Airtame to create a safer learning environment as schools reopen.

To find out more, contact us today.

Interested? Let’s talk.