CHARLESTON, W.Va. — U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies, today announced six Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) awards from the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) for education programs in West Virginia. These CDS awards, which were secured through requests made by Senator Capito, will be used to expand early childhood education programs in local school districts and enhance music history education in West Virginia. The awards also fund the expansion of two projects at West Virginia University (WVU) and a special-needs teaching curriculum at Shepherd University.

“I’m pleased to have secured this funding to expand early childhood education services and provide our youth every chance to thrive in the future,” Ranking Member Capito said. “I worked hard to secure funding that supports our higher education institutions like WVU and Shepherd University in their mission to best serve their students. As the Ranking Member of the Labor-H Appropriations Subcommittee, I will continue working to secure funding that helps put West Virginians on a successful path for the future.”

Individual awards listed below:

  • $1,500,000 for West Virginia Network (WVNET) (Morgantown, W.Va.) to support the upgrade of outdated data center and networking equipment allowing WVNET to continue to centrally host software applications for higher education, as well as to provide Internet service across the state for K-12 schools.
  • $750,000 for WVU (Morgantown, W.Va.) to support the purchase of hardware and software to build a cutting edge CyberRange facility dedicated to support and continue to grow education, training, and cybersecurity research in this high-in-demand area.
  • $250,000 for WVU (Morgantown, W.Va.) to upgrade technology in WVU library classrooms that will greatly expand the reach of university programming to the campus and Morgantown community.
  • $250,000 for Save the Children West Virginia Programming (Cabell, W.Va.) to partner with school districts to expand early childhood and in-school education programs.
  • $111,000 for Enhancing Music Education for West Virginia's Youth (Charleston, W.Va.) to create programming through music history and fund the staff and technical resources needed to reach more schools and students throughout the state.
  • $20,000 for Shepherd University (Shepherdstown, W.Va.) to fund the resources to create the courses necessary to offer a special education endorsement for Elementary and Secondary Education Majors.

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