Counties partner with cable TV to bring virtual learning to students during pandemic

Preparing for the back-to-school season this year goes beyond buying pencils and notebooks. Counties are equipping students with new tools they’ll need for learning in a virtual environment because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Local governments are forming partnerships and initiatives with cable TV companies to provide connectivity for students to learn in online classrooms.

In Arlington County, Va., the County Board allocated $500,000 to fund a joint county and school internet essentials grant program that provides broadband internet access to Arlington Public School students in need.

The program provides high-speed internet access to low-income families who qualify for Comcast’s Internet Essentials, a program to connect low-income families to home internet.

Households that qualify will receive free, high-speed internet for one year through the program.

“The board has really wanted to be on the forefront in seeing that technology is going to be crucial to any community thriving or succeeding in the future,” Arlington County Board Chair Libby Garvey said.

When schools initially closed in the spring, Arlington County Chief Information Officer Jack Belcher said students and teachers received “MiFi” hotspots to fill the gaps for those without internet access.

However, the hotspots did not fully meet the needs for online learning. 

Garvey described how the lack of fast internet connections extends beyond students with many teachers lacking sufficient broadband to teach from home.

“To really do instruction at home or to do it virtually from wherever you are, you’ve got to have a really good amount of ability to download and upload,” he said.

The Comcast Essentials program provides a faster speed with 25 Mbps downstream and 3 Mbps upstream.

Students who already received a Mi-Fi device in the spring are eligible for the program, as well as students who are on the free or reduced lunch program or receive federal assistance.

Arlington County, which already has a fiber hub, used CARES Act funding for the grant program, which is administered through Arlington Public Schools under a contract with Comcast.

“We’ve basically committed to make sure that every student in the county that needs internet has got their household connected to the internet and Comcast Essentials seemed the best way to do it and the most cost effective,” Belcher said.

Arlington Public Schools identified over 8,000 students in 4,000 residences in need of internet, according to Belcher. Eligible families can submit an application for the internet essentials program.

Hamilton County, Tenn. is a funding partner for a similar initiative.

Hamilton County Schools joined with the Electric Power Board of Chattanooga, a telecom company, to ensure all students can access the internet for online learning.

The EdConnect Initiative was made possible by public and private partners and the community-wide fiber optic network that already existed in the county.

Hamilton County provided $1.5 million for the program, according to Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger.

“One of the things I’m really proud of that we do in this county is public private partnerships,” he said.

The initiative will provide internet services to 28,500 economically challenged students in Hamilton County schools who are beneath the federal requirement and receive free or reduced lunches. This includes 17,000 households.

“We wanted to try to connect to obviously as many homes as we possibly could to have our children have an opportunity with a good education,” he said.

Families will receive a router and at least 100 Mbps internet service for free through the initiative. The broadband capacity should support video-based learning and high bandwidth educational applications.

Qualified students will receive internet services at no charge for at least 10 years if the partnership reaches its fundraising goal.

When the coronavirus pandemic shut down schools in March, Coppinger described how the Electric Power Board came up with a short-term fix for virtual learning and installed hot spots.

“It became apparent that if we were going to try to fix the digital divide as well as the educational divide, that we needed to have a more permanent, long-term fix,” Coppinger said.

The program has raised $6 million of its $8.2 million goal.

“It will afford people the opportunities for more education and even members of their family having the opportunity to pay bills online, clip coupons and have the opportunity to look at other educational choices,” he said.

While schools in the county opened on Aug. 12 with a combination of in-person and virtual learning, Coppinger said they are now prepared if at any point they need to revert back to full-time virtual learning.

“I like to say we’re in uncharted waters when you start to talk about COVID-19 and the uncertainties,” he said. “At any point in time, they could become all virtual again and so there’s just the need to be prepared so that our young people have the opportunity to learn.”