Patterson school district putting up broadband towers to give all kids free internet
.jpg "The families of Patterson students pick up Chromebooks in April after schools in Stanislaus County closed campuses and switched to distance learning.")
Patterson Joint Unified School District, which this summer pushed back the starting date of its school year to Sept. 8 in hopes the COVID-19 outbreak would be under control and it could provide in-person instruction, will launch with distance learning and provide free internet service for all students.
The district of more than 6,000 students is working with Motorola Solutions to erect 10 private broadband towers “to close the digital divide for its students,” according to a news release.
One tower will go up at each of the district’s eight schools, and the other two in rural areas to ensure secure and reliable service, district spokesman Johnny Padilla said.
Tower installation will kick off Sept. 1 at Grayson Elementary. The school draws from the district’s most rural population and is where many of its low-income and migrant families reside, the news release says. “Grayson is the school site most in need of reliable service, so it was prioritized to go first,” Padilla said. It will be in service by the time school starts.
The rest of the towers will be installed over the next three months.
The district’s board of education approved vendor contracts with Motorola for the tower equipment and an installation contract to erect the antennas, Padilla said. The towers were purchased with one-time funds through the CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act. The project is estimated to cost $350,000 for erection of the towers and antenna equipment.
No longer could wait for solutions
This partnership with Motorola was not brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic and the distance learning it has necessitated, the district said. Rather, it is the result of a two-year project seeking solutions for Patterson families in need of internet connectivity.
“We’ve been talking about the digital divide since I was in the classroom over 20 years ago,” district Superintendent Phil Alfano said in the news release. “This is the most significant equity issue facing students in the 21st century. We simply couldn’t wait any longer or rely on others to solve the problem for us.”
Patterson Joint Unified’s “1 to Web” Initiative in 2015 provided within two years a Chromebook learning device for every student to use in the classroom (grades K-5) and at home (grades 6-12), the district said.
“Nearly all of our students already have their Chromebooks and learning devices,” Padilla told The Bee. “After deployment back in April, our students were able to keep their devices throughout the summer so they could participate in the virtual Summer Learning Programs that we offered. We will be having another Chromebook deployment for new students or those who for some reason did not pick up a Chromebook back in April.”
New device deployment is scheduled for Aug. 31. A set of instructions will be provided to families upon distribution, Padilla said. “Our district IT team hot line (209-895-7731) is also available on our website for parents in need of further assistance.”
In the district’s 2019-2020 annual report to its community, it said home internet service is no longer a luxury but a necessity for youth to equitably compete in modern society.
“While permanent internet solutions have been a longtime goal for the district, CARES Act funds have allowed the district a unique opportunity to leverage the one-time funds to provide free internet access to all students and their families,” the PJUSD release says.
A statement from Motorola says its Nitro service “connects students directly to schools’ networks, providing the secure and reliable broadband connectivity needed to support online classes, streaming video and other data-rich programming.”
This story was originally published August 21, 2020 at 6:41 AM.
