17079.35.
(a) The department shall establish a competitive grant program to provide grants for the construction of network infrastructure for local educational agencies to administer computer-based assessments of pupils that are required by federal or state law. For the purposes of this section, “network infrastructure” means the hardware or software resources of an entire network that enable network connectivity, communication, operations, and management of an enterprise network.(b) Grant funds provided pursuant to this section may be used for the following purposes:
(1) Networking hardware, that may include, but is not limited to, routers, switches, wireless access points, firewalls, intrusion prevention systems, and network cabling. Network hardware does not include desktop or laptop computers or similar equipment.
(2) Networking software, that may include, but is not limited to, network monitoring and management, network traffic analysis, and network security applications.
(3) Network service, that may include, but is not limited to, mobile broadband, cable, digital subscriber line, satellite, wireless, T1, T3, or optical service.
(c) Priority for funding shall be given to local educational agencies that have no or little network connectivity.
(d) The department shall develop guidelines for the implementation of the program. The guidelines shall be developed with public input and shall include, but shall not be limited to, all of the following:
(1) The maximum grant amount.
(2) A matching funds requirement, based on a sliding scale.
(3) The process for submitting applications and determining awards.
(e) (1) For the 2014–15 fiscal year, the sum of five hundred million dollars ($500,000,000) is hereby appropriated from the General Fund to the department for the purposes of this section.
(2) The department may expend not more than ____ percent of the amount appropriated pursuant to paragraph (1) for its administrative costs in implementing this article.