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_ 200 Item Details($) Appropriations($) ITEM 125. First Year Second Year First Year Second Year FY2025 FY2026 FY2025 FY2026 second consecutive year, based on school accreditation ratings in effect for fiscal year 2024 and fiscal year 2025 will qualify to participate in the Virginia e-Learning Backpack Initiative in fiscal year 2025 and receive: (1) a supplemental grant of $400 per student reported in ninth grade fall membership in a qualifying school for the purchase of a laptop or tablet for that student and (2) a supplemental grant of $2,400 per qualifying school to purchase two content creation packages for teachers. Schools eligible to receive this supplemental grant in fiscal year 2025 shall continue to receive the grant for the number of subsequent years equaling the number of grades 9 through 12 in the qualifying school up to a maximum of four years. Schools that administer SOL tests in Spring 2025 and that are not fully accredited for the second consecutive year based on school accreditation ratings in effect for fiscal year 2025 and fiscal year 2026 will qualify to participate in the initiative in fiscal year 2026. Schools eligible for the supplemental grants in previous fiscal years shall continue to be eligible for the remaining years of their grant award. Schools eligible to receive this supplemental grant in fiscal year 2026 shall continue to receive the grant for the number of subsequent years equaling the number of grades 9 through 12 in the qualifying school up to a maximum of four years. Grants awarded to qualifying schools that do not have grades 10, 11, or 12 may transition with the students to the primary receiving school for all years subsequent to grade 9. Schools are eligible to receive these grants for a period of up to four years and shall not be eligible to receive a separate award in the future once the original award period has concluded. Schools that are fully accredited or that are new schools with conditional accreditation in their first year shall not be eligible to receive this supplemental grant. b.) Supplemental grants allocated to school divisions for participation in the Virginia e- Learning Backpack Initiative prior to fiscal year 2017 shall be used in eligible schools for (1) the purchase of a laptop or tablet for a student reported in ninth grade fall membership, and (2) the purchase of two content creation packages for teachers per grant. The amounts for such grants shall remain unchanged. 4) Required local match: a) Localities are required to provide a match for these funds equal to 20 percent of the grant amount, including the supplemental grants provided pursuant to paragraph g. 5). At least 25 percent of the local match, including the match for supplemental grants, shall be used for teacher training in the use of instructional technology, with the remainder spent on other required uses. The Superintendent of Public Instruction is authorized to reduce the required local match for school divisions with a composite index of local ability-to-pay below 0.2000. The Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind is exempt from the match requirement. b) School divisions that administer 100 percent of SOL tests online in all elementary, middle, and high schools may use up to 75 percent of their required local match to purchase targeted technology-based interventions. Such interventions may include the necessary technology and software to support online learning, technology-based content systems, content management systems, technology equipment systems, information and data management systems, and other appropriate technologies that support the individual needs of learners. School divisions that receive supplemental grants pursuant to paragraph g.5) above shall use the funds in qualifying schools to purchase laptops and tablets for ninth grade students reported in fall membership and content creation packages for teachers. 5) The goal of the education technology grant program is to improve the instructional, remedial, and testing capabilities of the Standards of Learning for local school divisions and to increase the number of schools achieving full accreditation. 6) Funds shall be used in the following manner: a) Each division shall use funds to reach a goal, in each high school, of: (1) a 5-to-1 student to computer ratio; (2) an Internet-ready local area network (LAN) capability; and (3) high speed access to the Internet. School connectivity (computers, LANs and network access) shall include sufficient download/upload capability to ensure that each student will have adequate access to Internet-based instructional, remedial and assessment programs. b) When each high school in a division meets the goals established in paragraph a) above, the remaining funds shall be used to develop similar capability in first the middle schools and then the elementary schools.