Hundreds of Manatee County students need WiFi. The school district had an idea

Hundreds if not thousands of Manatee County students were without internet access when Florida made the switch to online learning.

Schools are closed through May 1, a measure to slow the spread of COVID-19, but classes resumed online. The School District of Manatee County passed out approximately 9,000 Chromebook laptops as of Wednesday, helping families make the transition.

Amber Bozeman received a laptop from her daughter’s middle school, and though Manatee started online courses Monday, her daughter had yet to log on by Wednesday morning. Much like other families, her Bradenton home had no internet connection.

Bozeman said her daughter would be online by the week’s end. She was scheduled to receive two months of free home internet through Spectrum, which also opened public hotspots for community use. A map of public hotspots can be found at spectrum.com/wifi-hotspots.

“If I wasn’t getting the internet hooked up for free today, we would be walking to Burger King, and that’s even if Burger King would let us sit in there,” Bozeman said. “Honestly, it would probably be me, my daughter and my 1-year-old sitting on the curb while she does homework.”

“Having a device with no internet connectivity really doesn’t do you any good,” Superintendent Cynthia Saunders said at a news conference on Wednesday.

She stood outside of Ward Temple AME Church, one of more than a dozen locations that partnered with the school district. Manatee installed WiFi devices on 18 buses by Wednesday, with more to come, creating a fleet of mobile hotspots.

WiFi signals extend from the buses to local churches, community centers and neighborhoods.

Rev. James Golden, a local school board member, reached out to churches and community leaders to find hosts. Golden said he was grateful to the local churches, and he hoped more locations would come forward and welcome a bus.

From 9 a.m. to noon, the buses are parked at the following locations:

• The Bradenton Dream Center — 1816 Ninth St. W., Bradenton.
• Bayside Community Church, West Campus — 6609 Manatee Ave. W., Bradenton.
• Bible Baptist Church — 1720 Sixth Ave. W., Palmetto.
• First Baptist Church, 12125 71st St. E., Parrish.

From 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., the buses are parked at the following locations:

• Eternity Temple — 716 29th St. E., Palmetto.
• Fellowship Alliance Church — 5735 69th St. E., Palmetto.
• Oneco United Methodist Church — 2112 53rd Ave. E., Bradenton.

From 9 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., the buses are parked at the following locations:

• Bayshore Community Church — 6502 14th St. W., Bradenton.
• Daughtrey Elementary School — 515 63rd Ave. E., Bradenton.
• East Coast Migrant Head Start — 34590 State Road 64 E., Myakka City.

• Kirkwood Church — 6101 Cortez Road W., Bradenton.

• The Source Church — 5412 State Road 64 E., Bradenton.
• Ward Temple AME Church — 1005 Fifth St. W., Bradenton.
• West Bradenton Baptist — 1305 43rd St. W., Bradenton.
• Woodland Community Church in Samoset — 3124 17th St. E., Bradenton.

For the most up-to-date hours and locations, visit manateeschools.net, click on “eLearning,” navigate to the “Parent Technology Resources” link and then click on “Free Wi-Fi Hotspots” in the sidebar. The bus locations are listed on a printable flier under “Community Locations.”

Families can also visit the parking lots and car loops at more than a dozen schools to access WiFi, and more locations are planned for the future. But for Bozeman and other parents who lack transportation, the new hotspots are unobtainable, and the deal from Spectrum is limited.

“They gave me two months for free, and I’m hoping they’ll prolong it afterward,” she said.

Families requested more than 880 WiFi hotspots for in-home use as of Wednesday, and Manatee currently has 400 hotspots on order, with an expected arrival date between April 3 and April 10, said Scott Hansen, the chief technology officer.

Between the WiFi-equipped school buses, the order of in-home hotspots and the public internet offered by Spectrum, he was hopeful that all students could access Schoology, the online learning platform used by public schools in Manatee.

Out of approximately 41,000 students in Manatee’s traditional schools, more than 31,000 individuals logged into the district system throughout Tuesday. As of Wednesday afternoon, more than 22,000 students went online, Hansen said.

The log-ins were for individual students, but it was unclear how many were new or repeat users over the past several days. District leaders said all schools would soon reach out to families who had yet to log on, connecting them with resources or motivating them to start their online classes.

The district knew students were logging on, and they have between Monday and Sunday to complete their assignments, so the amount of productivity would be researched in the coming weeks.

With a school-provided laptop and free internet through Spectrum, Bozeman’s daughter would soon log on to Schoology for the first time. Both were apprehensive on Wednesday.

“I dropped out in 10th grade, because I grew up in foster care,” Bozeman said. “I’m worried that I’m not going to be able to help my daughter in the parts where she really needs help.”

“She’s struggling with math, and math is not my strong suit whatsoever,” she continued.

This story was originally published April 1, 2020 at 4:36 PM with the headline "Hundreds of Manatee County students need WiFi. The school district had an idea."