Kentucky schools scramble to reach students on the losing end of the digital divide

With most public schools in Kentucky planning to delay the start of in-person classes for another six weeks or more, educators across the state are grappling with how to reach students on the losing end of the digital divide.

Many schools had planned to begin offering in-person instruction this month, but Gov. Andy Beshear asked schools to hold off on bringing students into classrooms until at least Sept. 28 to avoid risking a spike in COVID-19 cases.

That means most public schools will begin this month with virtual instruction only, creating challenges for many students in rural areas who either don’t have access to high-speed internet, or can’t afford it.

“In many rural parts of the state, high quality internet connections can be hard to find whether or not you have the funds to pay for it,” said Brigitte Blom Ramsey, president and CEO of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence.

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The digital divide is an issue at the forefront for education leaders.

In one discussion hosted by the Prichard Committee, Ramsey said Kentucky ranked 44th in the U.S. for broadband access in 2017 Census data, with nearly 25% of households without a subscription to high speed internet and 15% without a computer.

Broadband access is an equity issue, said Jeff Hawkins, director of the Kentucky Valley Educational Cooperative.

“Digital divide, income divide, urban-rural divide: It’s the perfect storm for Eastern Kentucky,” he said. “The real struggle we have is not about equality, it’s equity. In schools, not everyone needs the same things.”

Lee County Superintendent Sarah Wasson said a survey of the district’s families showed more than 260 students, or 32 percent, don’t have what she considers good internet access, either because it’s not available, their families can’t afford it, or the service that is available is poor.

In rural communities, the cost of internet service is often higher, creating a hardship for some families.

“We pay more for crappier service,” said Dee Davis, president of the Center for Rural Strategies in Whitesburg.

For students in Lee County without good internet access, the plan for the start of the school year Aug. 24 is for teachers to record lessons and download them onto flash drives to give to students. For students with good access, teachers will teach live online and through Google Classroom.

“There’s a huge divide . . . and the have-nots are going to get left behind,” Wasson said of kids without adequate internet access.

Wasson said another concern is that students won’t have an adult a home to help them. If teachers see that kids are not completing their work, someone from the school will go to see them in person, she said.

Hawkins said all Eastern Kentucky students will be provided a tablet or laptop, regardless of their internet connection. If they don’t have a reliable connection, school work can be downloaded on the device. The work can be collected weekly and replaced with new school work.

Kentucky Department of Education Associate Commissioner David Couch suggested hotspot devices from cell phone companies as a potential solution, since they are capable of reaching 99% of homes in Kentucky. They do come with an initial cost and a monthly cost, but some providers offer the service at low or no cost for a limited time.

An expensive last mile

KentuckyWired will complete its project to bring high speed broadband to every county by the end of the year, executive director Jamie Link said, but that doesn’t mean service will be available to most individuals.

The system creates an access point to high-speed internet in each county, but extending the service to homes and businesses — what’s called “last mile” service — will be up to other providers.

The cost can be exorbitant to to run internet lines over mountains and through wooded areas.

Internet service providers face the difficult choice of investing in their rural systems even as the population declines and the region’s economy sputters. It may be a decade or more before the last-mile wired connection reaches every Kentucky home, Couch said.

Davis said he is more worried about the long term effect of poor internet access on the community than kids missing a few months of school.

“I’m really more concerned about a place that has always wrestled with poverty and having few ways to better their lives,” he said.

School bus hotspots

School districts are taking a range of approaches to provide internet access for students.

In Henry County, for instance, the plan is to provide Chromebooks to each student and outfit four school buses with Wi-Fi and park them in areas with spotty internet coverage. The buses will remain outside at night for students that could not go to those locations during the school day, said Superintendent Terry Price.

If students still can’t access the internet, teachers will record lessons to provide on flash drives.

Brett Wilson, the Leslie County superintendent, said he will recommend to the school board starting virtual instruction on Sept. 8. Wilson said online-only instruction will be a challenge since many homes in the rural, mountainous county don’t have access to good internet service.

The district will likely provide Wi-Fi service accessible in school parking lots. Officials have discussed creating hot spots elsewhere, but it’s not clear that will be an option because cell service is also spotty in many places.

The district has Chromebooks available for all students, so the plan for those without internet access is to pick up the devices weekly and load lessons on them, or to provide lessons on flash drives.

For students with internet access, the plan is for teachers to do some live lessons and some recorded lessons. The district is staggering some work shifts so there will be people available until 8 p.m. in case parents who work during the day need to call in.

Wilson said one of his concerns is that some young students will fall behind without direct, hands-on interaction with teachers.

“You can’t teach kids to read on the computer. Those early years are critical for developing reading and math skills,” he said.

McCreary County schools will be online starting Aug. 27. The district will provide a Chromebook or Kindle to all students and plans to set up internet hotspots at schools, a rural community center and possibly other sites, and also will make lessons available on flash drives.

“Our teachers and leadership team have been working tirelessly to make sure that the distance learning is the best it can be,” Superintendent Corey Keith said.

Still, like other educators, Keith said virtual instruction doesn’t match having students in classrooms with teachers.

Pike County superintendent Reed Adkins said more than 90% of students had reliable internet service. The educators have crafted a plan to upload assignments to a jump drive and trade them out twice a week. Schools will start Aug. 26.

“We have plans in place,” Adkins said. “I’m not 100% confident in any of them. None are as good as being in the classroom.”

This story was originally published August 14, 2020 at 3:02 PM.