FOCUS Project improving OC Schools

Oconee County’s Broadband FOCUS Project recently began serving the School District of Oconee County. This significantly upgraded Internet speeds at every school building it serves, explains Oconee County Schools Assistant Superintendent Steve Hanvey. “The FOCUS Project is an effort with the county; basically it has provided the groundwork for us to have wide-reaching Broadband.” Early in the school year, the impact of the new FOCUS Project was evident during recent Measuring Academic Progress testing, adds Hanvey. “With this new FOCUS Project and because we have increased our Broadband capabilities, we are now able to just do the MAP Testing. We do not have to interrupt any other issues in the class. If a teacher was going to stream a video about something that recently happened or something they got from ETV or those kinds of things, we do not have to make any changes to that. No glitches with the testing, the Internet speed are quick and we are very excited about this project that we are working on with the county.” Oconee County’s efforts to bring high-speed fiber technology to the county garnered esteemed designation as one of The National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors “Community Broadband Projects of the Year.” Oconee County earned the award for its role in transforming a predominately-rural Appalachian county into a “broadband oasis” by the creation of a 245-mile fiber network that provides reliable, high capacity, redundant connections both into and out of the county.