Virtual school has exposed NC’s deep internet divide. $40 million effort aims to help.
North Carolina will hand out 100,000 hot spots that students can use at home and will also turn some school parking lots and state parks into high-speed internet connection sites.
Governor Roy Cooper announced Wednesday that the new NC Student Connect partnership is getting $40 million, with most of the money going toward helping students connect to the internet at a time when many schools are only offering online classes. The effort is meant to address how the lack of high-speed internet access in rural areas is preventing some students from effectively learning from home.
“Long before COVID-19, expanding access to high-speed internet has been a top priority for my administration, and this pandemic has made the need even more urgent,” Cooper said in a news release. “NC Student Connect will make critical investments in high speed internet access and remote learning that will help students, health care and businesses in our state.”
The majority of North Carolina school districts started the school year in August with remote instruction because school leaders said that it wasn’t safe yet to resume in-person classes.
100,000 students need hot spots
The bulk of the money, $30 million, will be used to distribute 100,000 wireless high-speed hot spots for students to connect with their remote learning classes. Superintendents across the state have estimated that at least 100,000 students still lack a reliable internet connection at home.
Thousands of hot spots will be shipped to school systems throughout the month, according to the news release.
NC Student Connect also is getting $8 million to set up free high-speed internet connection points across the state in public locations such as state parks, museums and historic sites; school parking lots and municipal areas. Students without a hot spot at home will be able to go to those locations to connect to the internet to download lessons and complete assignments offline.
The program is also getting $2 million to train teachers, parents and students in how to effectively use remote learning.
The new grant comes after state lawmakers approved a nearly $1 billion coronavirus relief package last week that includes $10 million for internet connectivity for students and $30 million for the GREAT program to improve rural broadband. Cooper says he’ll sign the bill.
NC Student Connect is a partnership of state agencies and the business community, including AT&T, Duke Energy Foundation, Fidelity Investments, Google, Smithfield Foundation, Verizon Foundation and Wells Fargo Foundation.
“This announcement illustrates the state’s unwavering commitment in connecting all our students and all of NC,” Thomas Parrish, acting secretary of the state Department of Information Technology, said in the news release. “There’s no greater action than investing in our children, our future world changers. We are grateful to our private partners, and all those who are assisting in this effort; our tomorrow says thank you.”
