By The Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana's public schools can apply for funding to improve their remote learning capabilities during the coronavirus pandemic through a $61.6 million grant program, Gov. Eric Holcomb announced Monday.

The deadline is July 17 to apply for the needs-based, competitive funding through the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief, which is financed by the federal CARES Act.

Traditional public school corporations, public charter schools, accredited non-public schools, higher education institutions and other education-related entities are eligible to apply for the funding. The grants will toward paying for digital learning devices, technologies to boost internet connectivity and to support partnerships that advance remote learning.

The state expects to award dozens of grants through the program, which is a collaboration between the governor’s office, the Indiana Department of Education, the Commission for Higher Education and the State Board of Education.

“Teachers, administrators and superintendents have faced this pandemic with innovative solutions to ensure our students continue to receive the best education possible,” Holcomb said in a statement.

The Indiana State Department of Health announced Monday that 13 more Indiana residents have died from COVID-19, bringing the state's confirmed deaths to 2,363. The state agency has also recorded 190 fatalities considered coronavirus-related by doctors but without confirmation of the illness from test results. Those deaths give Indiana 2,553‬ confirmed or presumed COVID-19 deaths.

The state health department also said Monday that 277 additional Hoosiers have been diagnosed with COVID-19, bringing Indiana's total confirmed cases to 42,633.