\u201cWe do have hotspots that we are using with a lot of our families, but even the hotspots don\u2019t have service. They freeze again, so we\u2019re losing out on our time with instruction with kids trying to get back on,\u201d she said. \u201cYounger students have to have parents get them signed back in, and then we repeat directions and have them sign in and out. So it\u2019s frustrating for the kids. They get very upset if they think they\u2019ve missed out. Sometimes it\u2019s hard to get them back on task.\u201d<\/p>\n
State lawmakers on Wednesday passed a bill that could help ease some of that frustration, providing $20 million in grants for districts<\/a> to broaden internet access to their students at a time the internet has become the main mode of learning across much of the state and country. But the dollars, part of a state stimulus package at the center of a special legislative session this week, won\u2019t ensure every young Coloradan has a reliable internet connection.<\/p>\n The investment is widely viewed \u2014 by lawmakers, educators and education advocates \u2014 as a short-term fix. It\u2019s nowhere near enough money to address the root of the access problem: a lack of adequate infrastructure to sustain a quality internet connection for every Colorado family.<\/p>\n The $20 million in House Bill 1001 is focused on \u201cgiving access and infrastructure in as quick a way as possible,\u201d state Rep. Mary Young, a Greeley Democrat and one of the bill\u2019s prime sponsors, said during Wednesday\u2019s summit. The virtual event was the third in a series hosted by Coloradans for the Common Good, a nonpartisan organization that works to elevate the voices of community members in the issues that impact their lives and neighborhoods.<\/p>\n \u201cThe money we allocated for these grants is not going to solve the long-term difficulties that rural areas and some smaller communities continue to encounter,\u201d Young said.<\/p>\n State Rep. Matt Soper, a Delta Republican, another of the bill\u2019s prime sponsors, supported it hoping that if Colorado students face one, two or three years of disruption because of the pandemic, \u201cthey don\u2019t become a lost generation.\u201d<\/p>\n The $20 million will be added to the Connecting Colorado Students Grant Program, which was created earlier this year to distribute $2 million in federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act money to help school districts make sure low-income families and school staff had broadband access.<\/p>\n Grants will be distributed through an application process administered by the Colorado Department of Education. Soper said districts with a high percentage of kids who qualify for free and reduced-price lunch \u2014 a federal indicator of poverty \u2014 and whose communities have significant gaps in internet access will get priority.<\/p>\n One main goal of the legislation: to fund internet connections robust enough for all the members of a household to be engaged in their coursework at the same time.<\/p>\n Soper said the $20 million, the sum recommended by Gov. Jared Polis\u2019 office, isn\u2019t enough to provide internet service to all the kids who lack it, but he\u2019s optimistic that it\u2019s enough to make \u201ca real dent.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just a start,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Legislators folded a lot of flexibility into the program. Grants can help cover any technology capable of delivering broadband access, Soper said.<\/p>\n For some districts, that might mean investing in more hotspots. Others may want to purchase a subscription to an internet service provider or build their own antenna system.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re leaving it up to districts to tell us what their needs are,\u201d Soper said.<\/p>\n Grant dollars will be allocated by February. The entire grant program will sunset in February 2022, Soper said, so it won\u2019t compete long term with Colorado\u2019s Broadband Fund, which also disperses grants to bring broadband to areas of the state lacking it.<\/p>\n Michelle Murphy, executive director of Colorado Rural Alliance, which represents 146 rural Colorado districts, echoed the need for a far larger investment in infrastructure around the state.<\/p>\n \u201cThe broadband issues were real before the pandemic,\u201d Murphy said. \u201cThe pandemic puts an important spotlight on the issues, but they\u2019re also going to exist for rural communities well beyond the pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n One-time or short-term fixes \u201care not the answer for rural Colorado,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n What\u2019s really needed, she said, is a broad-based investment in infrastructure development, which isn\u2019t necessarily cost effective or enticing for internet service providers.<\/p>\n \u201cIt costs a lot to connect a few in rural areas,\u201d Murphy said, \u201cand that\u2019s part of what\u2019s created the current circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n During Wednesday\u2019s summit, Colorado superintendents repeatedly pointed to infrastructure as the root of the connectivity problem.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can increase the number of hotspots, but if we don\u2019t have reliable internet towers and everything else that will sustain and help us in this process, then it is kind of a waste of money in many ways,\u201d said Johan van Nieuwenhuizen, superintendent of Weld County School District RE-1 in LaSalle. \u201cSo we really need to focus on changing some of the rules and then using the infrastructure and increasing that first.\u201d<\/p>\n In Fort Lupton, 30 miles north of Denver, the school district is installing an antenna on one of its buildings so that families can access a Wi-Fi signal from the parking lot. \u201cI think at times people think if we just throw more money at a problem, it\u2019s going to solve itself, but without a clear solution it\u2019s just throwing money at a continued issue that becomes a larger problem,\u201d Superintendent Alan Kaylor said.<\/p>\n Other rural districts are taking similarly drastic measures. In Centennial School District R-1 \u2014 which installed an antenna on its school building in the spring \u2014 Superintendent Toby Melster is trying to fund a project that would relay fiber that comes to the school out to the community. That will allow students to access an internet connection so long as they\u2019re using one of the district\u2019s devices. The initiative involves erecting towers, which are on backorder.<\/p>\n The project would be able to boost coverage among students so that at least 85% could access the internet from their homes deep in the rural San Luis Valley. If done well, it would cost about $1.5 million, which the district can\u2019t afford. Melster said he\u2019s piecemealing funding together, in part by applying for grants.<\/p>\n His district is also considering creating a couple remote learning centers in old buildings.<\/p>\n Students in the district face many of the same hurdles as their peers \u2014 from satellite internet that isn\u2019t always reliable to hotspots that don\u2019t always get a signal and families having to decide who in their household will use their hotspot at what time.<\/p>\n It boils down to an issue of equity, and as much as lawmakers like Soper want to prevent students from falling behind, educators are already seeing some academic learning losses play out in real time.<\/p>\n Burenheide, the third grade online teacher in the Johnstown-Milliken district, said kids who can be online are learning.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we can upgrade that connectivity and just give them that upload speed, give them that contact, we can still teach them in a safe environment and they are learning,\u201d Burenheide said. \u201cBut not if they\u2019re not on, not if we can\u2019t get to them.\u201d<\/p>\n Read more at The Colorado Sun<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n