How much does it cost to start a school drone program?
What a first classroom fleet actually costs, line by line.
What s. 934.50(7), F.S. and Rule 60GG-2.0075, F.A.C. require of a district buying drones for classroom instruction. For CTE directors, STEM coordinators, procurement officers and district IT.
Florida school districts are governmental agencies under s. 934.50(7), F.S., and may use drones from an approved manufacturer. Rule 60GG-2.0075(2) states that a manufacturer which meets the minimum security requirements specified in the rule is deemed an approved manufacturer for the given tier. A drone used by a school exclusively as instructional technology is classified as Tier One use, the lightest of the rule's three tiers.
Rule 60GG-2.0075(3) sets out the tiers of drone use. Tier One reads, in part:
A Drone that does not collect, transmit, or receive Data during flight. Examples of such Drones include Drones that navigate along pre-programmed waypoints and tethered Drones. A Drone used by a School exclusively as Instructional Technology shall be classified as Tier One Drone use.
The final sentence classifies the use. Two definitions in the rule carry it. Instructional Technology at (1)(g) is an interactive device used by a school that assists in instructing a class or a group of students, including the hardware and software needed to operate it. School at (1)(j) takes its meaning from s. 1003.01(2), F.S., which is public K-12.
A classroom program that sits in Tier One is governed by subsections (4) and (5) of the rule. The encryption, cybersecurity and data-storage requirements in the rule apply to Tier Two and Tier Three use, not to Tier One.
A governmental agency may not use a drone, service or equipment produced by a manufacturer domiciled in, or that the agency reasonably believes to be owned or controlled in whole or in part by, a foreign country of concern. Section 286.101(1)(b), F.S. names those countries: China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, the Maduro regime in Venezuela, and Syria.
This subsection reaches the manufacturer's domicile, ownership and control.
Four practical conditions govern how the aircraft is operated and connected:
Beyond those, the district's own data policies apply.
Most of the questions district IT raises come down to three points.
Where the aircraft's WiFi is its own access point, the drone is not on the district network. The computer joins the drone rather than the drone joining the school. That separation is what subsection (5)(b) exists to secure, and any internet connection in the room belongs to the computer, not to the aircraft.
A managed Chromebook is a computer. Subsection (5)(c) addresses a drone connecting to a district-issued phone or tablet. A browser-based flight environment on a school Chromebook falls under (5)(b) instead.
A handheld controller removes the question entirely. A program that can fly from a dedicated controller, with no computer involved at any point, is a clean air-gapped posture under (5)(a)2.
The Hopper is designed and manufactured in the United States. FTW LLC is a Delaware company headquartered in California, majority owned and solely directed by a United States citizen, with no foreign country of concern ownership or control.
The aircraft carries two radios, Bluetooth Low Energy and WiFi. The WiFi is the Hopper's own access point. The computer joins the drone, and the Hopper does not join a school network or any other existing network as a client. The link carries video and flight telemetry to the locally paired device and nothing else. No flight data, video or student data reaches FTW Robotics or any third party.
The Hopper also flies from its own handheld controller, with no computer involved at any point, for districts that prefer that posture.
One point worth stating plainly. Subsection (2) closes by noting that notwithstanding a manufacturer's designation as an approved manufacturer, the governmental agency is still required to ensure that the drone it intends to use complies with all applicable provisions of the rule. That verification stays with the district, which is why the facts above are stated specifically rather than as a general assurance.
Rule 60GG-2.0075(2) states that a manufacturer which meets the minimum security requirements specified in the rule is deemed an approved manufacturer for the given tier. Which requirements apply depends on the tier the use falls into, and a drone used by a school exclusively as instructional technology is classified as Tier One use.
Rule 60GG-2.0075(3) states that a drone used by a school exclusively as instructional technology shall be classified as Tier One drone use. That classification turns on how the school uses the aircraft.
No. Tier One use is governed by subsections (4) and (5) of the rule. The encryption, cybersecurity and data storage requirements sit in the higher tiers.
Subsection (5)(c) addresses a drone connecting to a district-issued phone or tablet. A managed Chromebook is a computer, so subsection (5)(b) governs. Where the aircraft runs its own access point and never joins the district network as a client, any internet connection belongs to the Chromebook rather than to the drone.
The rule keeps that with the buyer. Subsection (2) states that notwithstanding a manufacturer's designation as an approved manufacturer, the governmental agency is still required to ensure that the drone it intends to use complies with all applicable provisions of the rule.
s. 934.50, F.S. (2025) · s. 286.101, F.S. (2025) · s. 1003.01(2), F.S. · Rule 60GG-2.0075, F.A.C., effective April 5, 2023 · Florida Department of Management Services, State Purchasing
Read against the rule text and the FLRules history in September 2026. This page is general information about the rule, not legal advice.
What a first classroom fleet actually costs, line by line.
Which Perkins uses a drone program fits, and how to write it up.
What to ask any vendor before a purchase order goes out.
Hopper Firmware 2.0 is here. A brand new sensor fusion and flight stability algorithm delivers decisively better flight.
Hopper holds position better, responds more precisely, and handles rough landings without drama. Crash detection was rebuilt, so a normal landing no longer leaves the drone unable to take off again.
Every Hopper gets it. Free. It loads onto drones already in the field through the FTW Fly app in a few minutes. Nothing to buy, nothing to ship back, no new hardware.
That is possible because FTW owns its entire flight control and telemetry stack. American built, wholly owned, zero outside dependency. When the software gets better, the drones already in your classroom get better with it.
Watch the walkthrough, then open FTW Fly and update yours.