CRITTENDEN COUNTY — Crittenden County Schools received more than $850,000 in federal funding Thursday to expand distance learning and telemedicine services.
The $853,043 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Distance Learning and Telemedicine Program will allow the district to enhance technology across one hub site and five end-user sites, improving access to education and health services.
Superintendent Tonya Driver said the funding will open new opportunities for students in the rural district.
“We are accepting a rather large grant from the USDA that’s going to provide opportunities for our students for distance learning and telemedicine,” Driver said. “We’re very excited to be able to have this grant, and we’re looking forward to putting all of our dreams into action with it.”
Driver said the grant will be implemented over three years, aiming to improve learning environments.
“We have plans for all of that; it’s the grant over a three-year period, so we’ll be spreading that out and concentrating on making the best learning environment for our kids that we can,” Driver said.
The funding will support dual-credit courses, teacher professional development and telehealth services such as behavioral health consultations, substance abuse prevention programs and mental health support. Driver said distance learning will help bridge gaps often faced by rural communities.
“When you’re in a small community, you want to provide as much exposure to other parts of the state and the world as you can, and so this makes it possible to bridge that distance in distance learning,” she said.
USDA Rural Development Kentucky State Director Travis Burton presented the grant Thursday, calling it an investment in the region’s future workforce.
“[I’m] so excited to be here in Crittenden County to present a check for a grant award to the Board of Education to enhance their distance learning capabilities,” Burton said. “The Trump administration — under President Trump and Secretary Brooke Rollins — is committed to rural America, and this check being presented today here in rural Kentucky is further evidence of that commitment and of the desire to make sure that places like Crittenden County are the best places to live, work and raise a family.”
Burton said the funding will have long-term impacts on the community.
“So an investment like this isn’t just a one-time investment that we’re going to celebrate today and never talk about again,” he said. “It’s going to have a ripple effect through the future of this community and the region, because it’s investing in students. It’s investing in the way that the team here at Crittenden County Board of Education and the teachers and the staff can train students for the jobs of tomorrow.”
The grant is part of a broader effort by USDA Rural Development to help rural communities expand access to education and health care through technology. In fiscal year 2025, the program awarded more than $6.8 million across Kentucky.