State Senator Steve Santarsiero Announced on Wednesday announced the awarding of more than $28,000 to the Bucks County Intermediate Unit. 

The grant is from the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s (PDE) Keystone Telepresence Education Grant program for equipment and services to help educate students who are homebound for extended periods due to serious medical conditions. 

“Pennsylvania has an obligation to deliver the best possible education to every child,” Sen. Santarsiero said. “With this equipment, teachers at Bucks County Intermediate Unit can better connect with students eager to learn and reach their full potential,” Santarsiero said.

Funding for the grant program comes from PDE’s Special Education state appropriation. The 2019-2020 budget includes $1.19 billion for special education – a $50 million increase over the previous year. The appropriation includes approximately $90 million for the Special Education Contingency Fund, Core Services funding to Intermediate Units; Institutionalized Children’s Program funding; special education for wards of state students; special education for students placed out of state; and the Keystone Telepresence Education Grant, a release from the senators office says. 

Intermediate units can  also use the funds to train personnel on equipment use. 

The grant is for a total of  28,197.