Roughly 100,000 Shelby County School students will be getting new computer devices in the fall. The $11 million plan to issue tablets and laptops — and even create Wi-Fi hotspots — aims to narrow the digital divide and adapt to the coronavirus.
Still, while the entire school board is eager to equip students with the needed electronics, there are concerns about how to get thousands of kids online, many for the first time.
A district survey found 15,000 district homes — about a quarter of all students — lack a computer device, or Internet.
Scott McCormick, the only school board member to vote against the plan, said a smaller pilot program representing about 20,000 to 25,000 would be more managable. McCormick also says that while there’s federal stimulus money for devices now, administrators may not have it for the long term.
“I don't think they have any idea what all the issues are,” says McCormick. “I don't. I don't even know the questions to ask at this point.”
But administrators say they need to order devices now, since manufacturers will likely be strapped to supply districts nationwide. As it is, students will receive them gradually throughout the fall.
School board member Stephanie Love says she’d like to know more about the district’s past experience mixing in-person and online classes, also known as blended learning. She says in 2014, the district tried something similar, on a smaller scale.
“I wish they would have given us the data on those ten schools,” she says. “What were some of the challenges? What were some of the successes?”
Other questions board members have include how to guarantee consistent Wi-Fi in some of the city’s poor neighborhoods. Who will train the thousands of parents, kids and teachers to use the devices — and how?
Despite these and other concerns, Commissioner Love is encouraged to hear that the digital divide is finally being addressed across the country.
She says if nothing is done about it, “It's no longer being complacent [but] criminal, because we have an obligation to do what is right.”
Still, Love wishes it hadn’t taken a global pandemic to get many Shelby County kids the same resources that other students have been receiving for years.
Copyright 2020 WKNO
