Public schools in San Francisco will no longer distribute hotspots that currently provide 8,000 students home access to free internet. But instead of cutting service off at the end of the month, as previously announced, they will extend service for existing users through the fall semester, the school district confirmed today in an email.
The hotspots were first introduced during the pandemic as a temporary measure to assist with remote learning, and have proved to be indispensable for students and families who would otherwise not have personal internet access, according to teachers.
They were funded through emergency federal funding, which was not extended and ends Sept. 30. The federal government declared the end of Covid-19 as a public health emergency in May.
The semester-long reprieve has not yet been communicated to teachers, according to several staff members from different schools. The San Francisco Unified School District website still indicates that the hotspots will deactivate at month’s end.
With roughly 50,000 students in the district, some 16 percent of students are currently reliant on the service, according to school district data. The district said that continuing to fund this project at its current scale would cost $2.5 million for the school year.
Aarón Ayala, who works as a family success coach at Buena Vista Horace Mann K-8, found out last week that the hotspots were no longer being distributed when he was trying to help a household access one.
“The reality is that students are using this to remain engaged with school,” Ayala said.
Ayala, instead, set up internet access for the family through T-Mobile. The company offers 100 gigabytes of free data per year to students who are enrolled in the National School Lunch Program. Ayala said the assistance was welcome but not enough, as video calls require a lot of data.
Ayala said he has set up the T-Mobile assistance for more than 50 other families at BVHM.
”We recognize reliable internet access at home is crucial for bridging the homework gap,” said Laura Dudnick, the school district spokeswoman.“We are actively exploring alternative options that offer a more dependable and long-term solution for students and families at home.”
Ayala has also helped guide families to the Affordable Connectivity Program, another workaround solution to internet access. But that also has its limitations, as it covers various services, which households may have to choose between. “Some people use that for phone bills,” Ayala said.
Ayala is also concerned that families will be cut off from the school’s communications, as any timely messages are sent through the online platform ParentSquare.
Chris Clauss, a special education teacher at Washington High School, sees this hotspot deactivation as a learning barrier. This is especially a problem for students trying to recover class credits, as many of those classes are online.
“They are going to lose access to something a lot more than just the internet,” Clauss said. This resource could also be used by a junior applying to a job, or to access online therapy, she said.
The uncertainty around the hotspot availability has made it difficult for teachers to know how to adjust their coursework accordingly. David Ko, another teacher at Washington High School, notes that any changes will be “an additional burden on both students and teachers.”
I cannot get fiber on my block, due to some rules against my preferred provider, Sonic, having ability to dig and underground wires where streets have no power poles.
Now I learn we cannot even figure out a way to assure ALL students have internet access at home.
Yet, we can invent cars that drive themselves?
What is wrong with this picture?
Embarrassing that our school district cannot find enough money to help kids with online access. Hard to believe there isn’t money in the SFUSD budget to keep kids connected. Maybe do away with a few of the administrators on Franklin St.
Why hasn’t the city provided free wifi to all? After all those years of tax breaks for tech?
Why does SFUSD need to pay for this?
City Hall could solve this problem.
What the Hell Techcentric SanFrancisco? Why not solve this? Seems pretty simple. Jeez.