Inyo County Office of Education Awarded $700,000 USDA Grant to Expand Rural Distance Learning

Independence, CA — The Inyo County Office of Education (ICOE) has been awarded a $700,000 Distance Learning and Telemedicine (DLT) Grant from the United States Department of Agriculture to strengthen educational access and equity across the county’s rural and frontier communities.

The grant will fund the Inyo LinkEd: Empowering Rural Education Opportunities project, which will expand high-quality videoconferencing “Zoom Room” classrooms and professional learning spaces throughout Inyo County schools. The initiative will improve access to instruction, special education services, mental health meetings, and professional development—regardless of geographic isolation.

“With more than 6.5 million acres and fewer than 19,000 residents, Inyo County faces challenges that most urban districts never encounter,” said Barry D. Simpson, Superintendent of Schools for Inyo County. “This grant allows us to bring opportunity directly to our students and educators instead of asking them to travel hundreds of miles to access it.”

Closing the Distance Gap

Inyo County is officially designated a frontier county, with communities separated by vast distances and difficult terrain. Travel between schools can be difficult, making in-person access to specialized services, training, and collaboration both costly and impractical.

Through the USDA grant, ICOE will equip multiple sites with advanced videoconferencing and interactive classroom technology. These systems will support:

• Distance learning courses

• Speech, occupational, and adaptive physical education therapy

• Individualized Education Program (IEP) and student support meetings

• Teacher professional development and credential support

• Mental health and wellness services

“Geography should never determine the quality of a student’s education,” Simpson said. “This project ensures that a student in Death Valley or Round Valley has access to the same expertise and opportunities as a student in a large urban district.”

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Proven Impact in the Classroom

This technology is already being used in our Adult Education Program and our educators have already seen the benefits of Zoom Room–style instruction.

Nikki Rae Hart, Inyo County Adult Education Director described the technology as transformative, “noting that students participate more actively, collaborate more confidently, and experience a true classroom environment even when learning remotely.”

“These systems don’t just connect screens—they connect people,” Simpson added. “They build community, engagement, and confidence for both students and teachers.”

Supporting Distressed Rural Communities

Five of the project’s participating sites are located in communities ranked in the highest distress tier of the national Distressed Communities Index. The grant directly supports students from rural, low-income, and high-risk populations who historically have had limited access to educational services.

“This funding recognizes the resilience of our rural communities,” Simpson said. “It tells our families that their children matter just as much as those in the most populated parts of California.”

A First for Inyo County

This is the first USDA DLT grant ever awarded to Inyo County schools. The project introduces entirely new services and does not duplicate any existing federal programs in the county.

Superintendent Simpson emphasized the long-term impact:

“This isn’t just an investment in equipment—it’s an investment in opportunity, retention of educators, mental health support, and the future of rural education in Inyo County,” he said. “We are incredibly grateful to the USDA for believing in our students and our communities.”

Looking Ahead

Implementation of the Inyo LinkEd project will begin this year, with full deployment across participating school sites planned over the next academic cycle.

“As a county, we may be remote,” Simpson concluded, “but with this grant, our students are more connected than ever before.”