New Mexico awards grants to 33 schools and districts to promote safe and appropriate connectivity

Thirty-three New Mexico schools and districts will use $385,785 in state grants to buy lockable phone pouches, device lockers and network controls designed to support safe and focused connectivity during the school day. The funding comes from the New Mexico Office of Broadband Access and Expansion’s (OBAE) Wireless Communication Device Policy Implementation Grant (WCDPIG) program, a joint effort with the New Mexico Public Education Department (PED), to curb screen time during instructional hours and support educational use of technology. The funding will be utilized to help districts implement their existing policies to manage student use of personal devices — cell phones, tablets, laptops and other personal wireless communication devices — during school hours. OBAE made funding from the Connect New Mexico Fund available for this program to help PED support the 89 school districts and 100 charter schools that have already implemented their policies. OBAE plans to conduct a second round of funding to allow more schools and districts to apply.