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Outline of Need:
The Lost Hills Union School District is located in an extremely rural area of northwestern Kern County in California. The School District needed an updated computer lab accessible by all students, staff and parents. The limited number of existing computer equipment at the Lost Hills Union School District reflected the technology of a bygone era. The computers were very slow and subject to constant break-down and times of non-operation. Because of Lost Hills's remote location, maintenance is expensive. The District was clearly unable to finance this project.
How Rural Development Helped:
USDA Rural Development was able to provide the Lost Hills Union School District with a Community Facilities Economic Impact Initiative Grant of $35,200 (learn more about this program), and the District provided matching funds of $28,800, which made $64,000 available for the project to replace old computer equipment with 40 new units. Part of the District's share came from a local oil company.
The Results:
Lost Hills is one of the most needy communities in California with extremely high unemployment, limited services and a fairly remote location. As a result of the grant, the Lost Hills Union School District received 40 new computer units with printers, and purchased new and upgraded software focusing on reading and writing skills together with English language acquisition and development. The students in Lost Hills now have the technological tools they need to be competitive in the world.
Paul Venosdel, State Director, USDA Rural Development, meets with representatives from the Lost Hills Union School District during his visit to the new computer laboratory.
(January 2005)
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